THE Scottish and Welsh governments will today warn an attempted “power grab” by Westminster could harm the environment in both countries.
SNP Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham and her Welsh counterpart Lesley Griffiths will discuss the EU (Withdrawal) Bill at a meeting in Cardiff.
The legislation says all powers repatriated from Brussels in March 2019, including in devolved areas such as the environment, will be controlled initially by Westminster.
Some will then be “released” to the devolved administrations, while others will be subject to UK-wide “common frameworks” to avoid disrupting the UK internal market.
Ms Cunningham said around 80 per cent of Scottish environmental law, including control of waste, pollution, biodiversity and flooding, originated in the EU.
If the UK dictated rather than negotiated the common frameworks, then adopted lower standards than Scotland wanted, it could damage the environment, she said.
She cited Scotland’s tougher targets on climate emissions as an example.
She said: “The Scottish Government will steadfastly adhere to its environmental commitments, despite the growing threat of a hard Brexit. That is why we are joining with our Welsh counterparts to urge the UK Government to ditch this ill-conceived power grab.
“Imposing a UK-wide framework for the environment risks undermining the significant progress Scotland has made, which has seen us win international recognition for our work on climate change and the circular economy."
Ms Griffiths added: "Devolution has enabled the Welsh Government to deliver ground-breaking legislation for the people of Wales, which delivers on international obligations and has been recognised as cutting-edge by a number of international institutions.
"The approach presented by the UK Government in the Withdrawal Bill could significantly undermine this progress.
"Our approach has not been about trading off agriculture and the environment, it's about both. You can't have one without the other.
"The Bill as it stands has the potential to seriously impact on this approach by locking us into an outdated framework while also removing our ability to bring forward reforms."
The Department for Exiting the EU did not respond to a request for comment.
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