Comments on: What percentage of laws come from the EU?

By: German Constitutional Court Lisbon Treaty ruling | Nosemonkey’s EUtopia

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:02:59 +0000

[...] it – fairly categorical, that. And if anti-EU types are happy to use German politicians to claim that 84% of laws stem from the EU, I think it’s only fair for those of us of a less [...]

By: Why is there a misconception that the EU has done the UK no good? | Nosemonkey’s EUtopia

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:39:38 +0000

[...] discussions about the EU’s economic costs/benefits (as part of this apparent series – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 – trying to cut through the spin about the EU and get to the facts), from a letter in [...]

By: What are the economic costs of the EU? | Nosemonkey’s EUtopia

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:45:36 +0000

[...] even more than with claims about the percentages of laws coming from the EU, *any* claims about the costs OR benefits of the EU must be nonsense. Because the only way we could [...]

By: Devil's Kitchen

Devil's Kitchen — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 17:34:16 +0000

“Anyone making any suggestions of how much EU regulations costs, even by a Commissioner, is to be taken with a huge pinch of salt.”

In that case, how can the Commission do a cost/benefit analysis of the laws that they pass? If they cannot do it, then they should not pass said laws.

By: the a&e charge nurse

the a&e charge nurse — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:28:40 +0000

Nosemonkey said ……… “not that any of this is likely to change the opinions of those eurosceptics convinced of the malicious and all-pervading influence of the EU on our daily lives”.

This is the million dollar question?

Perhaps some might argue it is irrelevant where laws originate from providing the legislation improves the everyday fabric of our lives.

There is a very important new piece of health legislation on the table (originating from the EU) that may have profound and far reaching effects on how services are configured.
There is a thoughtful analysis of the potential effects here:
http://juliemcanulty.blogspot.com/2009/06/not-european-private-healthcare-bill.html

More on the consultation document here:
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Consultations/Closedconsultations/DH_089029

The NHS as we know it may be disappearing out of view yet I doubt if more than a handful of people realise it?

By: Mike Hanlon

Mike Hanlon — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:00:06 +0000

Welcome scrutiny on this important question. On either side of the EU debate I think we all want to see discussion based on reality.

I would agree that the 80% figure is not applicable to the UK, but forgive those who use it on the basis that our own government refuses to do a proper study. Certainly the disparity between various studies shows how hard it is to estimate the true figure.

The ‘around 50%’ figure recently used by Cameron probably comes from the same Open Europe study that you have been referring to thoughout, as it was also one of their conclusions – alongside the 72% of the *cost* of regulation having its origins in the EU.

By: Polskie Sklepy

Polskie Sklepy — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:21:43 +0000

I agree with Robin. We cannot forget that part of the hidden percentage of influence of the EU on British admin is when a government department puts into place a law or regulation to preempt it being issued by the EU. In reality the percentage is at least 50%. Probably higher.

By: EvilEuropean

EvilEuropean — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:11:48 +0000

Devil kitchen….did you read ANY of the actual article?

Anyone making any suggestions of how much EU regulations costs, even by a Commissioner, is to be taken with a huge pinch of salt.

By: BLOGGING IN THE STONE AGE: HOW POLITICAL BLOGGING IN THE EU IS PLAYING CATCH-UP WITH AMERICA - Daily Babel

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:53:03 +0000

[...] 80% of all national laws come from the EU was examined and debunked by bloggers in great detail here). EU bloggers recognise how difficult it can be to get into EU politics, and some of them have set [...]

By: Devil's Kitchen

Devil's Kitchen — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:00:09 +0000

Interesting post, NM.

However, as regards the cost of regulation to business, we do have a figure — although I don’t know how it was derived.

It was Commissioner Gunter Verhoegen in an interview with the FT, I believe, who advanced the EU Commission’s estimate of the benefit of the EU Free Trade Area, to EU businesses, to be €200 billion per annum; he then proceeded to estimate the cost of EU regulation — again, to all EU businesses — to be in the region of €600 billion per annum (ref).