Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many in-flight files of EU legislation exist that affect the policy areas managed by his Department; and which in-flight files of EU legislation his Department intends to implement in UK law.

During the time-limited implementation period, European Union law will continue to apply in the United Kingdom subject to the terms set out in the Withdrawal Agreement.

After the implementation period, all laws in the UK will be passed by our elected

representatives in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and London. The Political Declaration recognises that the UK may choose to align with the EU’s rules in relevant areas to facilitate trade in goods or security cooperation.

In the unlikely event that the backstop were to come into effect, a small fraction of EU rules applying today would apply in Northern Ireland and EU rules on state aid would apply in the UK. However, as the Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration make absolutely clear, we do not want or expect the backstop to be needed – and even if it ever were ever to come into effect, it would be strictly temporary.

There are five in-flight files of EU legislation that effect policy areas managed by the Department. These are regarding Health Technology Assessment (HTA), Falsified Medicines, Clinical Trials, Medical Devices and Food Standards.

The HTA and Food Standards regulations are currently under negotiation. Implementation of these files into UK law will depend on the outcome of negotiations with the EU on our future relationships. The Falsified Medicines, Medical Devices and Clinical Trials regulations are due to come into force either before the UK’s departure from the EU or during the implementation period and therefore we intend to implement these three regulations into UK law.