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  David Sumberg MEP   

 

BRINGING COMMONSENSE TO BRUSSELS

Date:  17/04/2009

 

Sumberg slams 100,000 extra pages of EU rules under Labour

 

North West MEP David Sumberg said the EU is drowning North West business in a ‘thick tide of red tape’.

Mr Sumberg said he is deeply dismayed by research from think tank Open Europe revealing that 100,000 extra pages have been added to the Acquis Communautaire - the EU's rulebook - since Labour came to power.  Open Europe says that from 1998 to 2008 the number of legal acts in force in the EU has gone from 10,800 in 1998 to over 26,500 in 2008.

“Business is being battered by EU red tape,” said Mr Sumberg. “Much of it is hugely costly, immensely time consuming and wholly un-necessary. For example, EU labour market laws already account for over 20 per cent of the total cost of regulation in the UK. Despite this, the UK government has agreed to a new directive that would force employers to give agency workers equal rights as full-time staff, thus adding new burdens to business. Labour MEPs are also still seeking new ways to scrap Britain's opt-out of the Working Time Directive, which has been essential for workers and businesses to remain competitive.

Mr Sumberg said the Labour government and Labour MEPs have allowed far too much extra regulation to be imposed.

"The European Commission has begun a programme of scrapping or simplifying laws that are either obsolete or too complex. The pace needs to be ramped up several gears.

"If the Lisbon treaty comes into force, the number of rules will be even higher. That's why the British people must have the referendum they were promised by Gordon Brown.

"Entrepreneurs should be free to grow their businesses and people should be free to live their lives with as little interference from the EU as possible. Too many people feel the EU creates rules and regulations but that it is not on their side. It is time we looked at the EU's rulebook and asked what regulation we really need."

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