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Internal Market White Paper: been asked for worked out egs... OK, but bear in mind: only proposals, not legal text!
Will use two hypothetical egs
1) Scotland enacts minimum price for alcohol
2) Scotland bans single use plastics
Q = can they be enforced against English imports?
Will use two hypothetical egs
1) Scotland enacts minimum price for alcohol
2) Scotland bans single use plastics
Q = can they be enforced against English imports?
1) minimum price for alcohol is generally regarded as form of product requirement directly relating to lawful sale of relevant goods - much like composition or packaging or labelling. I.e. this isn& #39;t some mere ancillary trading rule like method of transport or advertising.
Under White Paper, mutual recognition applies to all product requirements - so English alcohol shouldn& #39;t have to comply with Scottish minimum pricing, even in Scottish shops. So far, much like EU law. But here& #39;s the crucial difference: EU rule = only presumption, not absolute...
So EU law = Scotland could still justify minimum alcohol price, eg on public health grounds. By contrast, under White Paper, mutual recognition appears to be absolute: Scots simply have to allow sale of English alcohol and cannot enforce minimum pricing, regardless of good reason
I.e. UK version of mutual recognition looks significantly more far-reaching than "evil EU superstate"... In practice: if Scots can& #39;t enforce minimum alcohol rules against English alcohol, they may as well not have them at all = devolution in practice means far less than on paper
2) Scottish ban on single use plastics = this time a clear product requirement related to lawful sale of goods, since directly regulates composition / packaging. So: mutual recognition applies & rule cannot be enforced against English imports containing single use plastics
Again: if this were EU law, Scotland could justify its ban on environmental grounds & thus continue to enforce it against imported as well as domestic goods. But UK proposals for (it appears) absolute mutual recognition = no chance for justification, Scots rules just can& #39;t apply
Now remember what we said about unique UK context: strong duty of mutual recognition, in "internal market" entirely dominated by one huge territory v. several relatively small territories = legal and economic pressures inherently stifle exercise of devolved regulatory competence
