Review of International Regulatory Co-operation of the United Kingdom
International regulatory co-operation (IRC) provides an opportunity for countries to consider the impacts of their regulations beyond their borders, to expand the evidence for decision-making, to learn from the experience of their peers and to develop concerted approaches to challenges that transcend borders. This review documents the context of IRC policies and practices in the United Kingdom. It covers both the UK’s unilateral efforts to embed international considerations in domestic rulemaking and its bilateral, regional and multilateral co-operative efforts on regulatory matters. In addition, the review provides a snapshot of IRC in practice in the United Kingdom with four case studies on financial services, nuclear energy, medical and healthcare products and product safety. At a time when IRC is an increasingly essential, yet largely untapped, tool for addressing transboundary policy challenges, this review offers valuable lessons to countries within the OECD and beyond.
Context of IRC policies and practices
This chapter documents the context of international regulatory co-operation policies and practices in the United Kingdom. It finds that for now IRC is not yet strongly embedded in the existing institutional and regulatory policy framework. Nevertheless, the United Kingdom has well-established regulatory disciplines, cross government policies providing incentives for a range of regulators to pursue common objectives; and a variety of actors involved in supporting and overseeing the conduct of regulatory policy. This robust Better Regulation Framework puts the United Kingdom in a strong position to make IRC an integral part of the rulemaking process and ensure strong leadership and a strategic whole-of-government vision.
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