Wednesday 3 May 2023

New UK regulations same as the old EU ones

I am sorry to say that my post on Monday was wrong on the washing machine eco-design regulations. I mistakenly used an earlier EU regulation (1015/2010) which had been repealed and superseded. When I looked again, I noticed that it had actually been replaced by a later version - 2019/2023. If I look at that one and compare it to the new UK Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products and Energy Information Regulations 2021, Regulation 22 in Schedule 9, I see that there is in fact very little change. This is totally the reverse of what I said on Monday, and for which I apologise.

What we seem to have is a new regulation that is written ever so slightly differently from the EU one, but the essential points are - as far as I can see - pretty well identical:

Example wording:

EU 2019/2023:

From 1 March 2021, household washing machines and household washer-dryers shall meet the following requirements:

(1) household washing machines and household washer-dryers shall provide:

(a) a washing cycle called ‘eco 40-60’, which is able to clean normally soiled cotton laundry declared to be washable at 40 °C or 60 °C, together in the same cycle;

(b) a washing cycle called ‘20 °C’, which is able to clean lightly soiled cotton laundry, at a nominal  temperature of 20 °C;

these cycles shall be clearly identifiable on the programme selection, on the display and through the network connection, depending on the functionalities provided by the household washing machine or household washer-dryer;

UK Regulation 22: 

2.  Household washing machines and household washer-dryers must meet the following requirements.

3.—(1) All machines must provide—

(a) a washing cycle called “eco 40-60”, which is able to clean normally soiled cotton laundry declared to be washable at 40 °C or 60 °C, together in the same cycle;

(b) a washing cycle called “20 °C”, which is able to clean lightly soiled cotton laundry, at a nominal temperature of 20 °C;

(2) The above cycles must be clearly identifiable on the programme selection, on the display and through the network connection, as applicable.

And amazingly, in UK regulation 22, to find exactly what technical documentation must come with every washing machine you are advised to consult (I'm not kidding) "Annex 6 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/2014 of 11 March 2019(1) supplementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to energy labelling of household washing machines and household washer-dryers (the labelling regulation)."

The documentation "must be provided in the order and format set out in Annex 6 of the [EU] labelling regulation."  Lord knows what Bill Cash will say to that.

In other words, we appear to be shamelessly copying and pasting EU rules and creating an almost identical UK equivalent but under a different name. Since virtually all the machines sold in the UK are foreign-made, I assume this is necessary to avoid creating a rule that might limit the number of different machines available to British consumers or raise costs or both.

In other words, we have 'replaced' EU regulations with regulations that are for all intent and purposes identical.

Foreign manufacturers will be able to say they comply with EU and UK eco-design requirements because they’re effectively the same. Quite what they will make of it, I don’t know. There can’t be too many examples of a country doing anything like it. We look ridiculous.

It does however sound logical given the task that civil servants have been given and precisely what they might have done to allow ministers to claim in public they’re delivering policy without doing too much damage. The sheer cost of replicating EU rules to make them appear different when they’re not must be incredible.

The same thing is probably true of televisions, dishwashers, fridges, motors, and variable-speed drives which are all covered by the same Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products and Energy Information Regulations 2021.

And all will have to keep in lock-step with future changes made in Brussels.

Brexit facts 4EU are on the warpath about all these EU laws which look like still being on our statute book after the end of this year.

Incredibly, they blame civil servants:

“The Civil Service has had almost seven years to deal with the consequences of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, following the largest democratic vote in UK history. It is clear they hoped the antics of the anti-democratic MPs and Peers in Westminster would succeed in overturning the decision of the British people.

“What is even more troubling is that following the landslide election of a pro-Brexit government in 2019, they have dragged their feet in doing the required work to prepare for jettisoning EU laws in readiness for new UK laws which suit the British people and British businesses.”

As far as washing machines are concerned, the new regulations that suit British people and British businesses are in fact the old EU ones worded differently.

I’m not sure what civil servants were supposed to do for a government that came in with a programme of scrapping 4,000 EU laws in a big hurry but not even a list of which ones should go or which laws should go first. 

If it was left to civil servants to decide, I am sure they would leave it all the same, but that wouldn't do, would it?

Brexit facts (which as we know are different from plain ordinary ‘facts’) seem to think civil servants rather than Brexit-supporting politicians should have identified these ‘burdensome’ EU laws that need scrapping. 

As far as I know, British businesses were desperate to keep EU laws, and personally, despite asking a lot of leave voters on street stalls which laws they wanted scrapping, I never met anybody who could identify a single one.

As I’ve mentioned here a few times, even commentators like Iain Martin worried about being asked the same question on TV shows because he didn’t know, but assumed men like Johnson and Gove did. Seven years on we know they didn’t and neither does Brexitfacts4EU otherwise one assumes they would list a few, but no, they don’t either.

They complain that an official Government statement in January on getting to grips with these EU laws still on the UK statute book said:

“Creating and continuing to develop this comprehensive record of EU-derived legislation will enable Government to accelerate regulatory reform and reclaim the UK statute book. Going forward, the government will continue to update this catalogue on a quarterly basis as government departments work to identify where more legislation can be amended, repealed or replaced.”

With the next update being due on 30 April.  Eagle-eyed researchers at Brexitfacts4EU say it still hasn't appeared as of 2 May. I wouldn't hold my breath they are likely to be disappointed.  And perhaps even more disappointed when they realise the shiny 'new' UK regulations that have 'replaced' the old 'barmy' EU versions are in fact the same.

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