How has Brexit changed the way we make laws and regulations in the UK, and what does that mean for citizens?

Brexit at 10: Regulation melissa.ittoo Wed, 17/06/2026 - 14:54 Much of the argument for Brexit was regulatory. 5 Comment Matthew Gill Institute for Government Yes Brexit Regulation Trade Artificial intelligence Utilities Business Cameron government May government Johnson government Sunak government No The Trade and Cooperation Agreement was designed to maximise regulatory autonomy – for Great Britain at least – by taking the UK firmly outside the orbit of the EU’s single market. And there has since been welcome innovation in UK regulation, which is being driven by individual regulators, regulatory networks, the Regulatory Innovation Office and government departments. 2 Gill M, Regulation and growth: Will the government’s strategy deliver?, Institute for Government, 2025, www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/regulatory-action-plan But much of this aims to resolve inefficiencies in the UK’s national regulatory arrangements, rather than to diverge from the EU (or lead the world). Regulation has been front and centre of implementing Brexit, but not in the way its proponents might have hoped. Related content Regulation and growth Only modest divergence from EU regulation has been achieved Five years ago, the IfG said it would be hard for the UK to realise the promised regulatory benefits of Brexit, 8 Rutter J and Marshal J, Taking back control of regulation: Managing divergence from EU rules, Institute for Government, 2021, www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/report/taking-back-control-regulation and so it has proved. Early enthusiasm for ‘sunsetting’ laws that were initially transferred onto the statute book to smooth the transition from the EU – as discussed by Jonathan Jones in this series – was quickly frustrated by business concerns about regulatory uncertainty and, in the case of GB businesses exporting to the EU, the cost and complexity of satisfying two regimes. The UK’s attempts to go it alone have sometimes proved unworkable and had to be qui