Supply of Machinery (Safety) (Amendment etc.) and the EU Machinery Regulation (Enforcement etc. in Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026

Baroness Suttie Excerpts

Monday 20th July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Suttie (LD)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his introduction to these regulations. I also thank the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, for allowing us to have this important, if short, debate this evening through tabling her regret amendment.

I read the debate on 30 June about these regulations in the House of Commons with interest. I have also listened carefully to the contributions to this short debate this evening. As usual in these debates, the majority of concerns expressed about these regulations are not so much about the content of the regulations themselves but are constitutional and include concerns about trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, and the impact on Northern Ireland businesses.

These regulations in themselves are not particularly controversial. As the Minister and the noble Lord, Lord Empey, have said, they update the safety standards of machinery under the EU directive of 2006 and the UK’s subsequent regulations from 2008. In the intervening nearly 20 years, machinery has changed quite significantly, and I am sure that nobody is disputing that the regulations themselves needed to be updated. These regulations are quite technical and, in the House of Commons, the Minister for Business and Trade estimated that they will impact 230 businesses in Northern Ireland and approximately 5,380 businesses in Great Britain.

The concerns expressed this evening by noble Lords are about the fact that Northern Ireland is being treated differently to the rest of the UK as a result of the Windsor Framework. There are also very real concerns, as the noble Lord, Lord Empey, has said, about how to scrutinise these regulations as we align with the European Union on these matters but have lost our democratic voice in the European Parliament and our representation in the Council of Ministers.

I would like to make three points in my remaining time. The first is about the impact that these regulations will have on businesses throughout the UK, in particular on Northern Ireland businesses. I should note that it is welcome that there was extensive consultation with businesses. However, the Minister in the House of Commons acknowledged that there had been a “de minimis assessment” and not a full impact assessment, because the regulations were deemed

“to have a low impact per business from their introduction”.—[Official Report, Commons, Third Delegated Legislation Committee, 30/6/26; col. 12.]

Does the Minister not accept, however, that given there is no real opportunity for Parliament to have a direct say on this secondary legislation, it would be preferable to have a full impact assessment of their implementation?

My second point is about the continued regulatory divergence that stems from these regulations. From these Benches we broadly welcome the upgrading of safety standards, but the measures being introduced to Great Britain, although they extend the recognition of CE marking beyond next January, are not the same as the EU standards being introduced in Northern Ireland. The Minister in the House of Commons indicated that the intention was to introduce measures in Great Britain similar to those being introduced in Northern Ireland, but she did not say when she expected this to happen. Like other noble Lords, I would be grateful if, in his concluding remarks, the Minister could indicate a rough timescale for when he expects this to happen. Does he agree that it would be advisable to minimise the amount of time when the wider UK internal market is working on different and parallel systems?

Thirdly and finally, does the Minister agree that the current policy of a gradual move towards dynamic alignment with the EU on an ad hoc and case-by-case basis results in both economic and political uncertainty for businesses? Clearly, with the arrival of Prime Minister Burnham in No. 10 today—the fifth Prime Minister in four years—the Minister this evening will not be in a position to know for sure what the new Government’s position will be towards the European Union. However, I am sure he will agree that businesses want and need certainty so that they can prepare and plan.

I am sure I will now lose the will of the House with my final comment, but the Liberal Democrat policy of joining the EU single market would provide certainty and clarity. I do not expect the Minister to comment, but I note that joining the single market would also result in removing regulatory divergence between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which is clearly of great concern to many in Northern Ireland as well as British businesses that trade and do business with Northern Ireland.