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European Financial Services Proposals

Does my hon. Friend agree that the European Commission, being the ultimate bureaucratic executive and the responsible body—these regulations are about regulatory arrangements and are the highest of legal instruments that must be implemented by member states—is acting in a manner that will inevitably lead to a non-competitive environment, because the Commission itself is basically undemocratic? It is bureaucratic, and all the fears that my hon. Friend has expressed will come about because of the failure of the culture within the European Union to understand that that is the basis on which the Commission operates, and it should not be allowed to do so. The Government are seriously in error and should be condemned for allowing such a situation to come about.