New regulatory scaffolding for the United Kingdom: Brexit, devolution and the Windsor Framework

Membership of the European Union had a cohesive regulatory effect on the United Kingdom. Coinciding with devolution, the obligations of European Union membership served as a regulatory scaffolding within which the United Kingdom Government and the United Kingdom devolved governments could pursue their own legislative and policy paths. European Union membership alongside Ireland also facilitated the 1998 Belfast ‘Good Friday’ Agreement, particularly as regards north–south cooperation on the island of Ireland. Brexit therefore raised the prospect of the regulatory scaffolding being removed and so questions about how to manage the regulatory consequences domestically. This article establishes the regulatory effects of European Union membership on the United Kingdom before considering the impact of the post-Brexit United Kingdom–European Union relationship and approaches of the United Kingdom to managing the regulatory effects of withdrawal. It then considers the replacement domestic scaffolding put in place to manage devolution outside the European Union and Northern Ireland’s unique post-Brexit position under the terms of the Windsor Framework.