OESs meaning

This Practice Note outlines the Network and Information Systems Regulations 2018 (NIS Regulations), SI 2018/506, which gave effect in the UK to the Network and Information Systems Directive (the NIS Directive), Directive (EU) 2016/1148. The NIS Regulations, as modified by a range of Brexit instruments, remain in force domestically. It explains the context and objectives of the regime, together with the duties placed on operators of essential services (OESs) and relevant digital service providers (RDSPs) under the NIS Regulations and the linked Assimilated Regulation (EU) 2018/151 (Assimilated DSP Regulation), insofar as it concerns RDSPs. Background to the NIS Directive The NIS Directive—also referred to as the Cybersecurity Directive or the Network and Information Security Directive—was passed by the European Parliament on 6 July 2016. EU Member States (including, at that time, the UK) were required to transpose the directive into national law by 9 May 2018. Emerging from the EU’s Cybersecurity Strategy to foster an open, safe and secure cyberspace, it constituted the first set of EU-wide cybersecurity...

Status of EU directives following Brexit Retained EU law (‘REUL’) refers to the bundle of EU‑sourced rights and rules that the UK kept after Brexit. It is a term defined in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (EU(W)A 2018) and denotes the corpus of EU‑derived legislation that was preserved and converted into UK domestic law when the European Communities Act 1972 was repealed. From 1 January 2024, under the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023, REUL that continues to apply is labelled ‘assimilated law’. This re‑labelling, including associated terminology, signals a shift in its standing and handling within the UK system: it should be read through ordinary domestic legal principles. Accordingly, from 1 January 2024, REUL is treated as ‘assimilated’ because, in the main, EU‑specific interpretive effects no longer apply (eg the supremacy of EU law, directly effective rights, and the general principles that had previously been preserved under the EU(W)A 2018). For additional detail, see Practice Note: Assimilated law. EU directives sit outside the ambit of...