The staggering cost of EU regulations

What is the point of regulation? It’s a question that is not asked often enough. Ignoring the obvious, sceptical response, surely the answer must be that regulations are intended to improve the lives and conditions of the citizens in whose names they are being enacted.

Open Europe is, according to The Guardian, an independent thinktank committed to European co-operation but in favour of radical reform. It has calculated, using the government’s own figures, the cost of the top 100 most costly EU regulations as they affect Britain. Even with Christmas cheer swilling around in our bellies, it makes for sobering reading. The top 100 existing EU laws will cost Britain £184 billion between 2010 and 2020 and that is without taking into account the introduction of any fresh regulations.

This is even more than Alistair Darling’s revised figure of £178 billion for the UK’s budget deficit for the current fiscal year, a post-war record, with £20 billion racked up in the past month alone. Given the appalling mess we are in and the fact that Open Europe is actually a pro-EU organisation, why are we not hearing more about this.

“The cost of EU regulation continues to rise year on year. Some of these regulations might be helpful but far too often the cost of EU rules outweigh the benefits…Targeting even just a few of the most costly EU regulations could save taxpayers and business billions every year.”" – Mats Persson, research director, Open Europe.

The four most expensive regulations are The Working Time Regulations, forecast to cost £32.8bn and which the Royal College of Surgeons has warned will limit training and cost lives; The Climate Change Act (£28.2bn); Energy Performance Certificates (£20.2bn); and the Temporary Agency Workers Directive (£15.6bn)

The complete Open Europe list can be found here.