Proceeding contribution from Peter Bone (Conservative) in the House of Commons on Wednesday, 21 May 2008. It occurred during Debate on bill on Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [Lords].
Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [Lords]
I am not a betting man, but if I were I would certainly bet £5 that that figure would double, at least, by the end of the first year. I shall conclude, because I know that other hon. Members want to speak. I have two points. On the EU aspect—this is a serious point—although the Government are right to try to have better regulation, that cannot be done without addressing the point that EU directives cannot be challenged or changed. I am talking about not their principles but their drafting. Sometimes, the EU directives that we see in the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments are complete nonsense; they are gobbledegook. The Germans tried to change one so that it made some sense, and they were fined by the EU. The directives are so confusing because they are designed to be confusing. When they were agreed to, the various different countries had different interpretations of them and came up with something that makes no sense and has no clarity. That is the problem for industry. For instance, it was impossible to understand what the European directive on package travel, package holidays and package tours meant. If we could address what European directives are doing and the way in which they are interpreted, that would help the industry's problems enormously. On the continent, our European colleagues take the directive, put it on the statute book and then ignore it. Such a light approach to EU directives would be most helpful for many of our British businesses.
Secondary information
- Type
- Proceeding contribution
- Reference
- 476 c351
- Session
- 2007-08
- Chamber / Committee
- House of Commons chamber
- Subjects
- Business Civil proceedings Local government Small businesses Regulation Unfair practices Local Better Regulation Office
- Legislation
- Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill (HL) 2007-08
- Link
- View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk
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- 2023-12-16 02:13:32 +0000
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