The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill 2022 has completed its Committee stage in the House of Commons.

 

The House rejected an opposition amendment exclude the ECJ decisions in the judgments of Bauer and Hampshire from the scope of its sunset provisions, which revoke EU-derived legislation at the end of 2023. Bauer was a 2019 case concerning the German equivalent of the PPF. The ECJ held that reduction in compensation on an employer’s insolvency would be “manifestly disproportionate” where it resulted in the pensioner living below the at-risk-of-poverty” threshold. The Hampshire case concerned the PPF and decided that members should have an individual minimum guarantee of 50 per cent of their compensation after PPF reductions.

 

Once the Bill comes into force, the DWP will not be compelled to implement either of these two ECJ decisions. The PPF had already begun the long and complicated process of implementing changes to its compensation rules following the Hampshire decision and it is unclear how or when the pre-Hampshire position will be reinstated.