The UK Internal Market Act 2020: what difference is it making?

Summary:

The UK Parliament passed the UK Internal Market Act in December 2020, without the consent of the Senedd.

Parts 1-3 of the Act set new “market access principles” in law. The market access principles create the presumption that (in general) goods, services and professional qualifications that can be sold or recognised in one part of the UK should be able to be sold or recognised in any other part, regardless of what the law in that other part of the United Kingdom says.

At the time, Senedd committees said the principles could reduce the practical effect of laws made in Wales.

This article looks at how the market access principles in the Act have been working so far and their implications for the development of Welsh law.