A few weeks ago The Telegraph was demanding an end to the EU red tape that was "choking" British industry and highlighted five directives they wanted to see the back of (HERE). I assume these were the most egregious they could find. Two of them were about getting back to incandescent light bulbs and using vacuum cleaners with bigger, more powerful motors (Yes, yes I know it's ridiculous).
"Industry would in particular prefer European energy product standards to be retained. These are likely to be applied in practice, due to the continuing need to trade with EU countries. If our formal standards diverge too far from those applying in European countries, there is a risk that the UK could become a dumping ground for energy inefficient products".
The Telegraph seems to be openly campaigning for the UK to become a dumping ground for products that are old fashioned and expensive to run while parliament after consulting industry is arguing against it. And I thought it was interesting to note that the committee was told "the majority of European energy product standards have been driven by industry, with “only about 25% of the standards … derived from European legislation”. And...
EU-derived polices have contributed to significant improvements in the energy efficiency of buildings and products, with benefits in terms of emissions reductions, reduced household bills and consumer protections. A small number of organisations have called for changes to EU energy efficiency policies, but in general there is widespread support for maintaining the status quo. The Government should consider retaining the majority of our EU-derived energy efficiency regulations, due to their economic, social and commercial benefits.
I hadn't thought about this before but industry creates many of its own standards anyway and of course it's obvious that the EU do not draw up legal standards in isolation but consult widely in all the member states and what emerges is a consensus, or as close as possible to one, about what standards products must reach before being put on the market, with all the environmental, consumer and safety protection that we have come to expect.
The Telegraph wants to take us back to the 1940s.
The Telegraph wants to take us back to the 1940s.
