Latest EU report shows how bad things are.
REVEALED.
How much of life is now controlled from Brussels, not Westminster
While the BBC, Sky News, and the newspapers were rather focused on Boris yesterday — and of course on critical comments from the EU about Boris — the Brussels machine was grinding on.
Each month the EU publishes what it calls an “Infringements Package”. This lists all the actions it is taking against member states for failing to obey EU law on a repeated basis. The full list is lengthy, so here are just the highlights of the latest Infringement Package published yesterday.
The EU’s July Infringements
NOTE
These are only decisions in July, and only the key ones at that
COUNTRY ACCUSED
NATURE OF INFRINGEMENT OF EU LAW
Belgium
Failure to pay customs duties into the EU budget
Italy
Failure to control fluorinated greenhouse gases
Romania
Failure to control fluorinated greenhouse gases
Bulgaria
Failing to notify the full transposition of the EU law on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications
Germany
Failing to notify the full transposition of the EU law on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications
Ireland
Failing to notify the full transposition of the EU law on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications
Croatia
Failing to plan the 700MHz frequency band for 5G services
Austria
Failing to submit information about operators of essential services identified under the EU law
Belgium
Failing to submit information about operators of essential services identified under the EU law
Greece
Failing to submit information about operators of essential services identified under the EU law
Hungary
Failing to submit information about operators of essential services identified under the EU law
Romania
Failing to submit information about operators of essential services identified under the EU law
Croatia
Failed to effectively implement the rules on the 112 emergency number
Czechia
Failed to effectively implement the rules on the 112 emergency number
Germany
Failed to effectively implement the rules on the 112 emergency number
Greece
Failed to effectively implement the rules on the 112 emergency number
Spain
Failed to effectively implement the rules on the 112 emergency number
Cyprus
Infringements of the geo-blocking rules, including sanctions by national enforcement bodies for businesses breaching EU rules
France
Infringements of the geo-blocking rules, including sanctions by national enforcement bodies for businesses breaching EU rules
Poland
Infringements of the geo-blocking rules, including sanctions by national enforcement bodies for businesses breaching EU rules
Romania
Infringements of the geo-blocking rules, including sanctions by national enforcement bodies for businesses breaching EU rules
Slovakia
Infringements of the geo-blocking rules, including sanctions by national enforcement bodies for businesses breaching EU rules
Spain
Infringements of the geo-blocking rules, including sanctions by national enforcement bodies for businesses breaching EU rules
Austria
Incompatibility of its law on the indexation of family benefits and family tax credits with EU rules
Hungary
Failing to protect standby workers (such as night guards or security guards), as required by EU law
Italy
Abuse of fixed-term contracts and avoiding discriminatory employment conditions in the public sector
Spain
National provisions on annual leave are incompatible with EU rules on the Working Time Directive
Belgium
Failing to comply with EU rules on electricity and gas markets
Italy
Failure to transpose EU rules on protection against radiation
Austria
Incorrect transposition of EU energy efficiency rules into national law
Germany
Incorrect transposition of EU energy efficiency rules into national law
Slovakia
Incorrect transposition of EU energy efficiency rules into national law
Spain
Incorrect transposition of EU energy efficiency rules into national law
Sweden
Incorrect transposition of EU energy efficiency rules into national law
UK
Incorrect transposition of EU energy efficiency rules into national law
Romania
Failing to eliminate restrictions on trade in natural gas between Member States as required under EU rules
Denmark
Failing to fully transpose EU rules reinforcing the sustainability of biofuels
Estonia
Failing to fully transpose EU rules reinforcing the sustainability of biofuels
Greece
Failing to fully transpose EU rules reinforcing the sustainability of biofuels
Hungary
Failing to fully transpose EU rules reinforcing the sustainability of biofuels
Italy
Failing to fully transpose EU rules reinforcing the sustainability of biofuels
Malta
Failing to fully transpose EU rules reinforcing the sustainability of biofuels
Poland
Failing to fully transpose EU rules reinforcing the sustainability of biofuels
Slovakia
Failing to fully transpose EU rules reinforcing the sustainability of biofuels
Malta
Failing to report on cost-optimal levels of minimum energy performance requirements as required under EU law
Bulgaria
Failing to protect citizens from poor air quality
Spain
Failing to protect citizens from poor air quality
Croatia
Systemic failure in monitoring pollution
Romania
Systemic failure in monitoring pollution
Greece
Failing to protect its citizens from noxious air pollution from several power plants as required by EU law on industrial emissions
Poland
Breached its obligations under the Ambient Air Quality Directive
Romania
Failure to impose permits for plants that operate under the Industrial Emissions Directive
Austria
Failure to improve its implementation of the EU Environmental Impact Assessment Directive
Austria
Failure to bring its legislation into line with European rules on the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive
Estonia
Failure to bring their national legislation into line with the new Environmental Impact Assessment Directive
Hungary
Failure to bring their national legislation into line with the new Environmental Impact Assessment Directive
Malta
Failure to bring their national legislation into line with the new Environmental Impact Assessment Directive
Ireland
Failure to ensure that peat bog extraction activities are properly assessed before authorisation
This is NOT the full list the list goes on and on.
You can take a look here at it all.
https://ec.europa.eu/environment/legal/law/press_en.htm
This is only the first third of the infringements in the list
The above summary table has had to be constructed manually by overnight as the EU does not produce one. The above list shows approximately the first third of the infringements notified in July alone. And these are only “the key ones”.
In case Remain MPs look at the list and only see the UK mentioned once, I must stress that the created the list in the exact same order as the infringements were shown in the EU’s 19,500-word document.
There are three key messages
- Brussels really does make an enormous number of laws, despite the contrary claims by the Remain campaign in the Referendum — and since
- Just because Brussels says something, it does not mean it happens
- The UK appears only three times in the full list — once in the list shown above, once amongst a list of 20 EU member states about firearms registrations, and once on a list of 15 member states requesting it to register with the European Registers of Road Transport Undertakings. Hardly massive crimes.
The example of Irish peat bogs
If we look at the last item on our list above, here is what the EU told Ireland yesterday:-“The Commission urges Ireland to ensure that peat bog extraction activities are properly assessed before authorisation. In a previous legal case on this matter (Commission vs Ireland of September 1999, C-392/96), the Court of Justice of the EU ruled against Ireland, finding it in breach of EU law. As confirmed by the Court, under the EU rules on environmental impact assessment (the Environmental Impact Directive, Directive 2011/92/EU), the impact of peat extraction activities on the environment must be properly assessed before authorisation. The Commission is concerned that these EU rules are still not being applied. Furthermore, a recent amendment of Irish law in January 2019 affecting larger extraction sites now gives operators more time for extraction activities that are in breach of EU law. As a result, the Commission decided to send a letter of formal notice to the Irish authorities. Ireland now has two months to address the Commission’s concerns. Otherwise, the Commission may decide to send a reasoned opinion.”
As can be seen above, this case against the Irish started 20 years ago and is still unresolved.
The simple fact is that the EU IS an unlevel playing field. Member states have wildly different economies and wildly different social and legal structures. Some, such as the UK, attempt to apply EU law in all cases even when it is not in their interests to do so.
Other member states are less diligent.
Remain MPs always seem to think that the UK is powerless to make its own laws for its own people, and apparently believe that the UK Parliament is unable to do this without the help of thousands of unelected officials in Brussels.
It would seem self-evident that the laws which the EU machine wish to make will suit many EU member states far more than they would suit the needs of the British people.
What does Brussels know about Irish peat bogs?
The last item on our list above relates to the Irish. This case has been rumbling on for 20 years.
Whilst the quality of Irish peat bog extraction may not be top of the list of concerns of the British people, it is nonetheless an example of how the “rules-based order” of the EU is not all Remain MPs seem to think it is.
Bulldog Boris
Yesterday in Parliament we saw Boris Johnson reminding MPs that ours is a great country. Wouldn’t it be good if we saw MPs believing once again in the ability of the Mother of all Parliaments to make laws for its own people?
[ Sources: EU Commission ]
