Saturday, March 16, 2013

Oh no, not another "victory"

The Daily Torygraph is all excited: the Boy King has won another victory in Brussels. Woo-hoo! Red tape will be cut because our fearless David has vanquished Goliath. Well, sort of. I mean, Goliath isn't actually dead. In fact, he is doing rather well.
Over dinner in Brussels last night, EU leaders agreed a to bring forward "concrete" plans to cut bureaucracy by June.

Decisions on which regulations will be abolished are then expected to be discussed in the autumn.

In a joint statement at the European Council summit, the leaders said: "Further action is required to reduce the overall burden of regulation at EU and national levels, while always taking account of the need for proper protection of consumers and employees."

The statement promised detailed talks in the autumn on "the withdrawal of regulations that are no longer of use" and "the consolidation of existing legislation".
That's it. That is the great victory: a definite promise of some discussions that will bring forward concrete proposals to consolidate existing legislation.

2 comments:

  1. Er, not quite. "...while always taking account of the need for proper protection of consumers and employees" sounds like MORE staff are needed. Sir Humphrey strikes again.

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  2. "the consolidation of existing legislation"...this usually means more legislation and more bureaucracy. Never trust 'tidying up exercises' at government level. A bit like the absurd John Major and his 'deregulation' initiative - a cynical exercise designed to pull the wool over they eyes and act as a figleaf to cover the oncoming tidal wave of rules and regulations.

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