The Brexit vote could provide the opportunity to take a fresh look at legislation that had fed through from Europe, according to PRA chairman Brian Madderson. He suggested the priority would be the timetable for the introduction of E10 petrol: "I hope we will be able to take a fresh look at E10 and introduce it less quickly. It will not be good for business or for motorists."
Another area the PRA would be exploring with government would be the introduction of a third phase of the rural rebate scheme. Madderson said: "It took 18 months to get agreement from all the EU finance ministers for the last phase, and it affected just four garages in England. I hope we can get together with the ministries here and get a third phase organised more quickly."
He was less optimistic about tobacco legislation, however, pointing out that the UK government had been in the lead in much of the changes.
ACS chief executive James Lowman also saw an opportunity to improve regulations. He said: "There are many European regulations that affect convenience store retailers, from rules on waste and energy efficiency to the incoming tobacco products directive. We will be making local shops’ case for the right regulatory framework once we leave the EU, maintaining the laws that work and are fair, and reviewing those where changes to regulations could promote investment and growth for our members. We will work closely with government and Brussels to ensure the process of leaving the EU is workable."
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