What is really going on in politics? Get our daily email briefing straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Westminster's empty, Theresa May's off hiking and Don't Tell the Bride's embroiled in a faking scandal.

But that doesn't mean government has completely shut down.

There's been a slow drip-feed of good news coming from Whitehall.

From banning rip-off card charges to protecting package holidays, these positive announcements have made some easy headlines for the government.

There's just one hitch - they all have strong roots in policies from the supposedly terrible EU, which we're trying to leave.

In other words, we would have had to introduce major parts of these laws anyway before Brexit in March 2019.

Sometimes this has been obvious if you're looking for it. But with one policy, the government didn't mention it at all.

Here are three EU policies this summer that have been dusted off, tweaked and boasted about afresh by the Tory government.

1. Credit card charges outlawed

(Image: Rex)

Date: July 19

Department: Treasury

What is it? Extra charges for paying by credit card will be outlawed from January 2018. It'll save Brits £473million on extra charges for flights, online shopping, gig tickets and more.

How was it announced? The Treasury issued a press release claiming "ministers today acted to end these unfair fees" and didn't mention the EU at all.

So what's the EU link? The Second EU Payment Services Directive was already forcing governments to introduce a ban on certain types of surcharge by January 2018. The government simply decided to "extend" this ban to "all retail payment instruments", its own documents say.

2. More protection for your package hols

(Image: Thomson Airways)

Date: August 14

Department: Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

What is it? Current protections on package holidays will be extended to those sold online; travellers will have to be given better information at the time they book; and the business you buy from will be responsible for the whole holiday, even if some aspects are provided by third parties.

How was it announced? The government issued a press release with the title "Government launches proposals to better protect holidaymakers". The only reference to the EU was the final sentence: " The European Package Travel Directive comes into force in July 2018."

So what's the EU link? That 'Package Travel Directive', which you can read here, contains everything in the government's announcement already. In other words, it's not really an announcement. Last night, only after prompting from the Mirror, a Business Department spokesman admitted there were no "additional parts" of the proposed law that weren't already laid down by the EU.

3. Tough new fines for IT meltdowns

(Image: AFP)

Date: August 8

Department: Culture, Media and Sport

What is it? Bodies providing an "essential service" like airlines, utility firms and the NHS could face fines of up to £17million if IT blunders or cyber-hacks lead to service failures.

How was it announced? Of the three announcements here, this one was the most honest about its EU link. A press release openly said it was about "how to implement the Network and Information Systems (NIS) Directive from May 2018".

So what's the EU link? The above Directive is a wide-ranging EU law on improving cyber-security. It says it will be up to EU member states to decide a level of "penalties" which are "effective, proportionate and dissuasive". In other words, the general principle was from the EU and the exact rule drawn up by the government.

4. New protections for your personal data

Date: August 7

Department: Culture, Media and Sport

What is it? A new Data Protection Bill will bring in a string of measures including the 'right to be forgotten' and making it easier to withdraw consent for the use of personal data.

How was it announced? In a press release with the boastful title "Government to strengthen UK data protection law" and a small mention of the EU Directive at the bottom.

So what's the EU link? Many of the measures - including the right to be forgotten and changes to the law on consent - are almost word-for-word what's already in the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).