Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

essential services definition

What does essential services mean? In legal practice, essential services describes services whose continuity is necessary to maintain critical societal or economic activities, for example energy, water, transport, healthcare and digital infrastructure. The term is used both descriptively and, in some regimes, as a defined concept. Under the Network and Information Systems Regulations 2018 (UK) and the European Union (Measures for a High Common Level of Security of Network and Information Systems) Regulations 2018 (Ireland), it underpins identification of Operators of Essential Services (OES). Designation by competent authorities in specified sectors triggers duties on risk management and incident reporting. The concept and usage are broadly consistent...

UK energy sector Operators of Essential Services (OES) designation under the NIS Regulations 2018: electricity, gas and oil thresholds, scope and post-Brexit context

Published by a LexisNexis Energy expert

Practice notes

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EU‑derived legislation that was preserved and converted into UK domestic law when the European Communities Act 1972 was repealed.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 assimilated law, as they do not have direct effect in the UK. As a result, these measures are now approached through standard domestic interpretative methods rather than EU‑centric doctrines and effects...

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Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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