LoginMatt Allwright: EU Referendum
Posted 15 August 2016 | JoTS Online
Content Tags: Opinion|Brexit|National
OPINION: With the EU referendum dominating headlines, Matt Allwright considers what Brexit could mean for consumer protection, cross-border shopping and everyday rights, urging readers to stay alert as the legal landscape changes.
Let’s face it, BREXIT! The Musical has to be just days away. The drama over the last few weeks has made the social upheaval depicted in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita look like a game of slapsies. I’m already writing the songs in my head: Gove’s centrepiece dance number, I’m Very Well Equipped Indeed, Corbyn’s quiet lament, It’s My Party and I’ll Hide If I Want To. And BoJo’s barnstorming finale, What On Earth Am I Going To Do Now? It would be funny if it wasn’t so serious.
Let me nail <em>MY</em> colours to the mast here. I have absolutely no opinion about the outcome of the referendum. Of course I do – like anyone else – but I’m not in any way allowed to express it thanks to the unique way the BBC is funding my life. So what can I actually say in this column? Well, now that we are Brexiting, it’s my duty to try to work out what it means for the consumers of Britain. From what I’ve read, in the short- to medium-term it means almost nothing at all.
For a start, we’ve got at least two years before we actually cast off and leave the EU. Once we’re adrift, yes, crucial bits of legislation – like my favourite, the 2008 Consumer Protection Against Unfair Trading Act – did emanate from the mighty bowels of Brussels, but our government has backed up that EU law with UK law, which makes it Brexit-proof.
One element of this to ponder is whether EU test cases, which determine the way that law is applied, will still work in the UK. Presumably not. The tricky bit seems to be in the longer term, when we start to deviate from European law. At the point where we start fashioning consumer rights law for the UK alone, we are going to need two sets of rules: the ones we use when we buy things from UK suppliers and retailers, and those we use when we dealing with our estranged partners on the continent.
It’s going to be tricky, but if we think about how much we currently already buy from the US, China and elsewhere, it’s not impossible. Take the UK (and EU) Distance Selling Regulations – 14 days if you don’t like it, right or wrong. In five years our government may decide that’s not working.
Then, buy a pair of slippers online from Leicester: one set of rights; from Lille, another. Most consumers don’t fully understand the unified rights they’ve already got, despite me sticking them on the screen at every opportunity. So we’ll have to be extra vigilant and watch out for key changes.
Share this Article: X|LinkedIn|Facebook
Content Tags: Opinion|Brexit|National
