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

如果英国决定离开欧盟，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在欧盟可以采取行动的政策领域的权力分配方式进行了审查。能力平衡审查的目的是收集大量证据，以帮助决定继续加入是否符合英国的国家利益。但对什么符合国家利益的考虑，在卡迪夫、贝尔法斯特或爱丁堡看起来可能与在伦敦大不相同。权力下放意味着被下放的行政当局有权在某些事项上通过自己的法律，联合王国各地在可能适用的法律方面开始出现分歧。政策可能会对英国不同地区产生非常不同的影响。为了通过自己的立法，威尔士与其他下放权力一样，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。虽然欧盟法律可能有（不）流行的形象，要求在欧盟所有国家适用完全相同的规则，但差异的范围肯定存在。本项目的目的是从权力下放的角度审查权限平衡审查。审查中对法律和谁做什么的描述是否清楚地反映了权力下放的行政部门的权限，以及英国中央政治机构的权力？从权力下放的角度来看，从欧盟向英国归还任何法律的权力的后果会是什么，这是否清楚？威尔士什么时候能够维持它已经拥有的法律，什么时候只有在达成新的权力下放协议的情况下才有可能？从法律上讲，威尔士是否能够做到格子西姆鲁领导人琳恩？伍兹（Leanne Woods）的建议，她认为，如果权力要被遣返，应该特别关注哪个议会接管这些遣返的权力，而不是自动默认一切都归威斯敏斯特。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。该项目将寻求明确法律的权限分配，并突出威尔士与欧盟关系的方式和程度是通过威斯敏斯特和白厅的机制形成的。除了对适用于许多关键政策领域的法律的框架提供公正的独立解释外，该方案还将对下放权力的利益和关切如何被纳入欧盟决策过程进行新的研究。这是通过调查最近获得的国家议会向欧盟委员会提出建议的权力，建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。这项研究将探讨这种“辅助性审查”如何在联合王国内部运作，研究威尔士议会、其他下放议会和联合王国议会之间的关系。

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.