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Big beasts in Brussels have regularly tied national parliaments in regulatory knots since the bloc’s formation more than 60 years ago, when the Treaty of Rome established the European
Economic Community. And the famously faceless bureaucrats have drawn up countless treaties to hand themselves a growing list of powers over the living standards of citizens in its member
states – governing almost every aspect of their lives from food standards to your home’s humble vacuum cleaner. You might just remember this classic from 2011: Regulation 2257/94, the
so-called “bendy banana” ruling that seeks to ensure all bananas sold within the EU are “free from malformation or abnormal curvature”.
But underneath the madness, there are a series of Brussels-imposed laws that are quite sensible and are likely to be kept, or even improved, under Boris Johnson’s premiership.
During his “People’s PMQs” session broadcast from Downing Street on Facebook, the Prime Minister said: “We’re going to set benchmarks for high standards in the UK and around the world, and I
believe that will be a good basis to do a free-trade deal.”
Nonetheless, eurocrats have got it in their heads that the UK is going to slash and burn its cherished environmental, food and labour standards.
This fear has found its way into the Brexit negotiations, developing a new demand for so-called “zero dumping” if there is to be a trade agreement with zero tariffs and zero quotas.
The demands would essentially keep Britain in lockstep with other EU member states in areas such as taxation, workers’ rights and environmental standards in order to knock down key barriers
to frictionless trade. Which sounds very much like Britain as a ruletaker.
But why is it the EU puppet masters believe that UK citizens are about to suddenly accept a collapse in their country’s standards – especially when they are already considered gold-plated on
the world scene?
The answer is obvious – they fear that a Britain free from the unnecessary regulatory constraints and the burden of bureaucracy would become a terrifying economic competitor on the EU’s
doorstep.
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“UK businesses cannot outcompete their EU rivals through deregulation,” the bloc argues.
Often referred to “Singapore on Thames”, the concept that a Westminster government could be able to adopt rapid regulatory framework changes to create a friendlier environment for
manufacturers, software developers or even bankers.
Such a post-Brexit strategy would represent a massive shift from the membership of the EU’s rigid, over-regulated single market and Eurozone.
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Brussels isn’t equipped to make fast-moving decisions that help to make it a more friendly environment for business – red tape often means new regulations take at least five years from start
to finish to implement.
Britain’s advantage would be that simple changes, which for example could help vacuum cleaner manufacturers thrive, could be made in a matter of months – potentially assisting UK firms to
steal business from other European destinations.
“We can’t have zero tariffs and dumping together. We can have zero tariffs and zero dumping,” Paolo Gentiloni, the EU’s economy commissioner today told an audience in Davos.
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It’s this attitude and idea that has given birth to the so-called “level playing field”, which asks the UK to commit to maintaining its state aid, tax, employment standards and environmental
protections.
But it’s not Brussels’ sudden desire to fight climate change or protect workers’ right that drives their negotiating position, it’s a genuine fear that by scrapping cumbersome regulations
Britain will become Europe’s premier economic destination.
EU diplomats are under no illusion that Britain’s food or environmental standards will slip overnight, it’s how the country’s gold-plated rules will be implemented that is giving negotiators
sleepless nights.
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