The Devolution of Legal Powers to Wales in the Context of the UK's Membership of the European Union

如果英国决定脱离欧盟，这对威尔士的法律意味着什么？如果它决定留下来呢？在过去两年中，英国政府对欧盟和英国之间的权力分配方式进行了审查，涉及欧盟可以采取行动的一系列政策领域。竞争力平衡审查的目的是收集证据，帮助决定继续留在欧盟是否符合英国的国家利益。但在加的夫、贝尔法斯特或爱丁堡，对国家利益的考虑可能与伦敦截然不同。权力下放意味着，权力下放的政府有权在某些事务上通过自己的法律，英国各地在可能适用的法律方面开始出现分歧。英国不同地区的政策可能会产生非常不同的影响。为了通过自己的立法，威尔士和其他被下放的权力一样，需要被赋予这样做的权限。它还必须确保在立法时遵守欧盟法律的要求。虽然可能会有(不)流行的欧盟法律要求在欧盟所有国家实施完全相同的规则的形象，但肯定存在差异的空间。本项目的目的是从权力下放的角度审查能力平衡审查。在审查中，对法律的描述以及谁做了什么，是否清楚地反映了权力下放的政府的职权范围，以及英国中央政治机构的权力范围？从权力下放的角度来看，将法律权力从欧盟归还给英国会有什么后果，这一点清楚吗？威尔士何时能够维持现有的法律？只有在达成新的权力下放解决方案的情况下，才有可能做到这一点？在法律上，威尔士是否能够像PlayCymru领导人莉安·伍兹(Leanne Wood)所说的那样做，她认为，如果权力要被收回，就应该特别关注哪个议会接管这些收回的权力，而不是自动默认一切都交给威斯敏斯特。例如，在社会措施方面，威尔士应该被允许‘选择加入’，即使英格兰选择不这样做。该项目将寻求澄清法律权限的分配，并强调威尔士与欧盟的关系是通过威斯敏斯特和白厅机制塑造的方式和程度。除了对适用于多个关键政策领域的法律框架提供不偏不倚的独立解释外，该计划还将对如何将被下放权力的利益和关切纳入欧盟决策过程进行新的研究。这是通过调查各国议会最近获得的向欧盟委员会提出意见的权力，即拟议的法律应在国家或区域一级而不是在欧盟一级处理，因为它们的目标可以在不需要欧盟立法的情况下实现。这项研究将探索这种“辅助性审查”是如何在英国运作的，着眼于威尔士议会、其他下放的议会和英国议会之间的关系。

What will it mean for the law in Wales if the decision is taken for the UK to leave the EU? And if it decides to stay? Over the past two years, the UK Government has undertaken a review of the way in which powers are shared between the EU and the UK, across the range of policy areas in which the EU can act. The purpose of the Balance Of Competences review is to assemble a body of evidence to help decide whether or not continued membership is in the UKs national interest. But the consideration of what is in the national interest may look very different from Cardiff, Belfast or Edinburgh than it does in London. Devolution has meant that the devolved administrations have the power to adopt their own laws on certain matters, and differences are starting to emerge across the UK in the laws that may apply. Policies may have very different impacts across the different regions of the UK. To adopt its own legislation, Wales, as with the other devolved powers, needs to have been given the competence to do so. It also has to ensure it is complying with the requirements of EU law when it legislates. Whilst there may be (un)popular images of EU law requiring exactly the same rules to be applied across all the countries of the Union, scope for differences certainly exist. The purpose of this project is to examine the Balance of Competences review from the perspective of devolved power. Does the account of the law, and of who does what, in the review, clearly reflect what is in the competence of the devolved administrations, and what remains in the power of the central UK political institutions? Is it clear from a devolved perspective what the consequences of any returning of legal powers to the UK from the EU would be? When would Wales be able to maintain the laws it already has, and when would this only be possible if a new devolution settlement was agreed? Could, legally, Wales be able to do what Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Woods suggests when she argues that 'If powers are to be repatriated, there should be specific attention as to which parliament takes up those repatriated powers, and not the automatic default that everything goes to Westminster. For example, on social measures, Wales should be allowed to 'opt-in' even if England chooses not to do so.'The project will seek to bring clarity to the allocation of legal competences, and highlight the manner and extent to which the relationship Wales has with the EU is shaped through the machinery of Westminster and Whitehall. As well as offering impartial independent explanations of the legal frameworks that apply across a number of key policy areas, the programme will also undertake new research on the way the interests and concerns of the devolved powers may be fed into the EU decision making process. This is through an investigation into the recently acquired powers for national parliaments to make representations to the EU Commission that proposed laws should be handled at a national or regional level instead of at EU level, as their objectives can be achieved without the need for EU legislation. The research will explore how this 'subsidiarity review' is operating within the UK, looking at the relationship between the Welsh Assembly, the other devolved parliaments, and the UK Parliament.