Proposed negative statutory instrument
When making regulations under powers in the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018, a Minister may choose either the negative or affirmative procedure in most cases. When the Minister proposes to use the negative procedure, the statutory instrument (SI) must be laid in draft for consideration, also known as “sifting”, by the European Statutory Instrument Committee in the Commons and the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee in the Lords. At this stage the SI is called a proposed negative statutory instrument.
Each Committee will consider if the procedure is appropriate to the content of the instrument and make a recommendation in its weekly report. After committee consideration, the Government will either sign the SI into law (make it) and then lay it as a made negative SI, or lay it as a draft affirmative SI.