TRANSPOSITION OF EU LEGISLATION INTO SCOTTISH LAW
It is for the Scottish Government to consider how a Directive should be implemented, including whether the Devolved Administrations should implement separately, or opt for UK legislation. Section 57(1) of the Scotland Act enables the UK Government to implement EU obligations in a devolved area on a UK wide basis. As a result, the Scottish Government may decide to relinquish responsibility for implementation to the UK Government. This only happens on rare occasions, usually where the spilt between reserved and devolved areas is complex.
Development of legislative proposals
The Government will work with the UK in developing the initial European Commission proposals, and where necessary (and possible) attend EU Council negotiations on the form of the Directive to ensure that Scottish interests are taken into account.
Implementation of legislation approved by the EU
Once the Directive has been published in the EU Journal, Ministers consider, in consultation with stakeholders, how to best implement the requirements. EU legislation can be implemented through primary or, more usually, secondary legislation put through the Scottish Parliament.
In the latter case, the draft statutory instrument will be supplied to both the relevant Subject Committee(s) and the Subordinate Legislation Committee simultaneously by the Government. Legislation laid before the Parliament that transposes any European directive is normally accompanied by a transposition note. Once the Directive has been implemented into Scots law there is normally a review period built in to allow Ministers to monitor the effectiveness of the implementation.
Further information
Further guidance on the UK transposition process can be obtained from the UK Government's guide which sets out how to implement European directives effectively. The current process for the transposition and implementation of EU legislation in the UK is set out in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and the Concordat on Co-ordination of European Union Policy. The Scottish Government is developing its own transposition procedures; more information on this can be found under Procedural Reform.