23-05-2007, 12:29 AM
|
#25 (permalink)
|
|
Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 310
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by eublues
My mistake: I meant 100 billion. This is a bit less than 10% of GDP, and that the EU is costing us something like that would not surprise me (about £1660 per person).
|
A debate over the actual costs of EU regulation is for a different thread perhaps, but my main point is that the figure has been taken from a report which doesn't make that claim. It's clearly written in the report that the figure is for regulation as a whole, the report itself isn't even about the European Union. Here's the text -
Quote:
We have estimated that the cost of regulation to the UK economy is between 10% – 12% of GDP – or over £100 billion – similar to the annual take in income tax. While tax and budgets are closely monitored and assessed for value for money, the costs of regulation have never been systematically measured, probably because they are made up of thousands of small, sometimes invisible, regulatory burdens. Taken together, however, they represent a huge cumulative burden. I am pleased that, following our recommendation, the government is now measuring the administrative costs of regulation and setting targets to reduce them. Our work has meant that, for the first time, the administrative costs of regulation will become visible and regulators will be held to account for the costs they impose and savings they deliver.
This does not mean that all regulation is bad or unnecessary. Within the £100 billion plus total are laws covering social, economic, political and technical issues such as minimum wage, maternity rights, environmental protection and consumer safety. I do not advocate dismantling necessary legal safeguards at either UK or European level.
|
http://www.brc.gov.uk/downloads/pdf/designdelivery.pdf |
|
|