Britain ‘used to be a climate leader’, European lawmakers complain

European lawmakers are lamenting Britain’s decision to weaken environmental rules since leaving the EU, after The Guardian revealed the country is falling behind in almost every policy area.

One Green Group MEP said the findings were “tragic”, while a centre-right MEP said the differences were “particularly bad” for companies wanting to do business on both sides of the Channel.

Grace O’Sullivan, an Irish MEP from the Green group, said the decline was not surprising given the number of promises the British government had broken since former Environment Secretary Michael Gove committed to a “green” Brexit. “While we are no angels in the EU when it comes to environmental protection, we have made significant strides in updating and improving our legislation in recent years.”

The Guardian analysis shows that since Brexit, Britain has weakened its environmental rules in key policy areas, from chemicals to climate. Among other measures, the EU has done more than Britain to ban harmful pesticides and substances, tax carbon emissions on imported goods, regulate batteries and purify the air.

The two economies are expected to grow further apart in environmental ambitions as the EU introduces new rules on industrial emissions, outdoor air quality, crucial raw materials, water treatment and electrical waste recycling.

O’Sullivan highlighted Britain’s deteriorating water quality standards as a “particularly worrying” example of divergence. “In Ireland, where previous governments have failed to prioritize the environment, EU legislation like this played an important role in requiring the government to act to protect its own people from poor water treatment practices.”

She added: “Both the British and Irish people will bear the brunt of the British government’s poor environmental performance, as the recent collapse of water quality in Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland has shown.”

Another policy difference concerns the EU’s efforts to help those less able to afford the costs of the energy transition. The EU has legislated for a social climate fund to finance concrete measures to alleviate energy and transport poverty as the remaining 27 Member States move towards net zero emissions by 2050. So far there is no comparable fund in Britain.

Peter Liese, a German MEP and environmental spokesman for the centre-right group of the European People’s Party (EPP), said: “A big problem in my opinion is that Britain has not (received) something like a social climate fund. Although we must be ambitious in climate policy, we must provide targeted assistance to those who are unable to pay for the transition themselves.”

He added: “I deeply regret the difference in environmental rules between the EU and the UK.”

The British government has failed to monitor its divergence from EU environmental policy, leaving companies and green groups to guess at the breadth and depth of the shift. But the Guardian analysis of data from the Institute for European Environmental Policy found the country was falling behind on almost every aspect of environmental regulation.

Petros Kokkalis, a Greek MEP from the Left group, cited Britain’s tightening of air quality rules after Britain had weakened them as evidence that the “departure from our bloc is having a profound impact on every aspect of the daily life”. He said: “It is quite worrying to see that Britain is not following the same path. And it is even more worrying to realize that it is the citizens and their health that will bear the consequences.”

Mohammed Chaim, a Dutch MEP with the centre-left Socialists and Democrats, said recent EU legislation “clearly shows more ambition” than Britain, but warned that regulation is only one driver of the energy transition. He said: “The industry knows that the only way to maintain competitiveness within the continent, including Britain, is to go green.”

Yet among European countries, Britain has always led the way in decarbonizing its industry. “Britain used to be a leader when it came to climate.”