Open Europe releases new report: “The EU and You: How the EU affects everyday life in the UK”
04 March 2008
The EU now has a powerful influence on our everyday lives. But as a result of the way EU legislation operates, it is often not clear to either voters or even the media when a particular decision or policy originates in the EU.
Most people - perhaps even most journalists - aren’t aware that the EU is responsible for such diverse things as fortnightly bin collections, higher electricity bills, home information packs and rules on children of twelve having to sit in car booster seats.
As a result, by far the most common question asked by journalists about the Lisbon Treaty is: “but how will this affect our daily lives?”
As food for thought this paper reviews a selection of the everyday effects of EU law. It is by no means an exhaustive list. We do not seek to pass judgement on the measures in question, but just to demonstrate the true scale of the influence the EU exerts over people’s daily lives.
To download the full report please visit:
http://www.openeurope.org.uk/research/euandyou.pdf
Open Europe Analyst Lorraine Mullally said:
“The Lisbon Treaty further reduces Britain’s ability to block EU legislation we don’t want. It would allow the EU to pass more measures which affect people’s day-to-day lives. For example, the end of the veto over energy would let the EU pass its Oil Stocks Directive, which would cost a household of four £130 a year. It would be harder for the UK to block rules affecting what rights people have at work, or stop the Health Services Directive, which will affect how the NHS Budget is spent. It would mean, as the Government admits, that many more asylum cases will be decided by the European Court of Justice, rather than in Britain.”
“In other words the Lisbon Treaty would have a big effect on people’s daily lives. The Westminster consensus that people don’t care about the EU is wrong. The truth is that the EU’s critics and the media have failed to explain just how much power the EU really has.”
Summary:
Open Europe’s new study reviews a selection of the everyday effects of EU law. It is by no means an exhaustive list, and is not intended to pass judgement on whether the measures are good or bad. Its purpose is to demonstrate the true level of the influence the EU exerts over everyday life in the UK. Below is a summary version of some of the key effects of EU law on people’s daily lives:
Household: Home Information Packs (HIPs); Fortnightly bin collections; Higher household electricity bills, more wind turbines; Soaring water bills.
Consumer affairs: Higher food prices; Written and pictorial health warnings on cigarette packets (including what font to be used); Disappearance of the Crown signs on pints; Lists of ingredients and warnings on food products; Phasing out of incandescent bulbs; Expensive electrical goods, and higher council tax; New Royal Mail pricing rules; Bureaucracy at the bank; High price of energy saving products; Banning vitamins and minerals; Fewer and more expensive fish; Extinction of swathes of vegetable varieties; The end of selling in pounds and ounces only.
Transport and motoring: Car booster seats for children of 12; Photocard driving licences; End of many rural bus routes; Creation of Railtrack; Harder and more expensive motorcycle tests; Preventing the return of the Routemaster bus; In future, all new cars will need to keep headlights on during the day.
Law and order: Government’s inability to expel EU criminals from the UK – the Chindamo case.
Media, sport and entertainment: Banning caps on foreign football players, higher wages, higher ticket prices for fans; Abolition of the 192 inquiries service and replacement with 118; Television advertising rules.
Workplace: Banning workers from earning higher wages instead of taking holidays.
Economy: Two thirds of all new regulations for businesses; The run on Northern Rock; Northern Rock downsizing; Post office closures.
Health: Fewer training hours for doctors, compromised patient safety; More cost for the NHS. Notes for Editors: For more information please contact Neil O’Brien, Lorraine Mullally or Hugo Robinson on 0207 197 2333 or 07973 142775.