The Internal Market Act 2020 provides the foundation for freedom of trade within the UK following Brexit. The Act is a central element of the UK's constitutional infrastructure. By enabling goods and services that are lawfully made or sold in one of the UK's four constituent parts to be marketed and sold across the rest of the UK, the Act exerts a practical brake on regulatory divergence, because higher regulatory standards imposed by legislation in one part of the
UK may have little practical effect unless these standards are also adopted in the UK's other three constituent parts. The Act will therefore be a strong force compelling cooperation between the four
legislatures' regulatory standards and will be a powerful tool for lawyers challenging regulatory rules. As well as impacting almost every area of business and trade, the Act also touches the lives of individuals and provides the UK Government with powers to fund economic and cultural activities on a UK wide basis despite the devolution settlement.This Blackstone's Guide explores the Act's provisions in a succinct and practical manner, supported by worked examples and
comparative insights from EU internal market and competition law.
Author Biography:
George Peretz Q.C. is a barrister at Monckton Chambers. He has appeared in leading cases in the EU Court of Justice and higher English courts in public law, tax, regulatory law, and competition. He has written extensively about Brexit-related issues, including for Prospect, The Guardian, and numerous journals. He has given oral and written evidence on Brexit, trade, and subsidy control issues to the House of Lords EU Committee, and the House of Commons
Brexit/Future Relationship and International Trade Select Committees. Alan Bates is a barrister at Monckton Chambers. Alan has represented the UK at hearings in the EU Court of Justice in cases spanning fields,
including free movement, EU constitutional law, discrimination in employment, agricultural subsidies, and tax. Previously he has worked at the Law Commission of England and Wales, taught Public Law at King's College London, and served as Judicial Assistant to the then Senior Law Lord, Lord Bingham. Brendan McGurk is a barrister at Monckton Chambers. He was a lecturer in Constitutional and Administrative Law at Wadham College Oxford, and is the author of Professional Indemnity Insurance
(OUP, 2016), alongside Mark Cannon QC, and Data Profiling and Insurance Law (Hart, 2019). He is on the Attorney-General's Panel of Counsel and regularly instructed in public, EU, and regulatory law disputes
for and against the UK Government. Jack Williams is a barrister at Monckton Chambers. He co-edited The UK Constitution after Miller: Brexit and Beyond (Bloomsbury, 2018) and, prior to entering practice, was a lecturer at Brasenose College Oxford where he taught Administrative Law and Constitutional Law. He is a co-founder and editor of the EU Relations Law blog (www.eurelationslaw.com), which is about the new relationship between the UK and EU post-Brexit.
