United Kingdom MPs were due to vote for the first time on Monday night 11 September on the government Bill that will end the supremacy of European law over national law.
Once the text is passed, provision is made for it to be studied and debated line by line by the House of Commons, AFP says.
The EU (Withdrawal) Bill will overturn the 1972 European Communities Act which took the UK into the then European Community and gave primacy to Community law over British law.
It will also convert, as they stand or amended, a large number of European laws into British law, expunging all reference to the EU. The main purpose of the Bill is to allow the United Kingdom to function normally when it effectively leaves the EU, theoretically in March 2019.
Debate on the Bill began, however, amid tension, with the opposition claiming that the May government was forcing it through. The opposition claim that May has chosen to use exceptional powers to transpose the European laws, trampling the rights of Parliament underfoot and putting social protection rights at risk. The opposition also argues that the Bill would give the government full control over the final agreement with the EU to be concluded between now and March 2019. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)