CONSEQUENCES OF BRexIT FOR CONSUMERS AND LEGISLATION FOR THE PROTECTION OF CONSUMERS 'RIGHTS IN GREAT BRITAIN

This article considers one of the topical issues of the development of legislation on consumer rights protection in the European Union countries in connection with Great Britain’s withdrawal from EU. European legislation on the protection of consumer rights has a number of features since all participants at the very beginning of the EU’s existence pledged to share responsibility for enacting legislation that protects consumer rights. The authors dwell on the problems of consumer rights protection in the UK, the consolidation of the legislation on consumer rights protection, and the models for building relations between the UK and EU: British membership in the European Economic Area (EEA); relations only within the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO); cooperation, built on individual terms. In the study, the authors used analytical and formal-legal methods, the method of abstraction which made it possible to formulate conclusions on the conducted research. The authors come to the conclusion that there are strong relations between the rules of the Institute for the Protection of Consumer Rights of Great Britain and the legislation of the EU, so no major changes are currently expected. The Law "On the Rights of Consumers" not only introduced colossal changes in the national English legislation, but also summarized various aspects of consumer legislation in one legislative act. Such consolidation of consumer law in the UK has proved to be one of the most complex and promising legislative acts within the EU. Currently, it is difficult to predict the consequences of the UK’s exit from the EU for consumers and business, not knowing the scenario of the development of transitional or future relations with the EU. Undoubtedly, the next two years of the transition period will be difficult, since the decisions will be made by 27 EU countries without the participation of Great Britain.