Select committee: European Affairs Committee
Conclusion 27
1st Report - The UK-EU relationship in financial services
Published 23 Jun 2022
Paragraph 160
European Affairs Committee UK-EU relationship in financial services All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The Committee agrees with the Government that, in the interests of flexibility, agility and proportionality, many of the regulations currently contained within primary legislation would be more appropriately managed by the regulators themselves. However, it is essential that this transfer of powers is accompanied by appropriate mechanisms for Parliament to scrutinise the regulators and hold them to account, and that the regulators are given sufficient resources to allow them to accommodate the increase in their workloads resulting from such a change.
From: European Affairs Committee, 1st Report - The UK-EU relationship in financial services, paragraph 160, 23 June 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 13 October 2022 (deadline 23 August 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government welcomes the Committee's report and, in response, mainly sets out existing and planned measures, while noting rather than accepting several conclusions and stating that it stands ready to sign the UK-EU Memorandum of Understanding once the EU side is ready.
- On the UK-EU Memorandum of Understanding on regulatory cooperation, the government "notes" the Committee's conclusions and says it is "ready to sign the MoU", but that further steps are required on the EU side. It agrees with the Committee on conclusion 20 that the MoU will be a valuable tool.
- On a minimum annual meeting with the European Commissioner, the government "notes" the conclusion and says it "remains committed to a position of openness and cooperation". It does not commit to annual meetings.
- The Financial Services and Markets Bill, introduced on 20 July, would introduce secondary growth and competitiveness objectives for the PRA and FCA, with annual reporting by the regulators on performance against them.
- On repealing retained EU law, the government says each repeal will only take effect once the Treasury lays a commencing Order, and only when replacement rules are in place. It says it "does not intend to pursue change for its own sake".