Commercial Agency Update: Implications of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023

In May 2023, the UK Government changed its plan to revoke all EU-derived laws, which would have included the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 (the Regulations).

The Retained EU Law Bill prescribed a targeted list of 600 pieces of legislation to be revoked, which did not include the Regulations.

This was welcome news for Commercial Agents who rely on the protections provided by the Regulations, which are derived from the EU Commercial Agents Directive (the Directive).

The Bill has since attained Royal Assent, and the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (the Act) came into effect on 31 December 2023.

While the Act does not revoke or amend the Regulations, it may impact future decisions of the English Courts concerning the entitlements of commercial agents. 

From 31 December 2023, the English Courts will not be required to follow decisions of the EU when interpreting and applying the Regulations, although, in practice, they may still choose to do so.

The UK government will have additional powers to amend the Regulations on a fast-track basis if they wish.

In practice and over time, a disparity between how the English courts and the EU courts interpret and apply legislation which implements the Directive is likely to develop, although it is not yet clear how significant this disparity will be.

In time, we may see significant differences in how the English Courts interpret and apply the Regulations now that they are no longer bound to follow EU decisions.

However, the small number of cases heard and reported by the courts in this area means it will likely be a significant time before we see any differences in the English court’s application of commercial agency law.