This from Sue La Manche...
Ne pas jeter le bébé avec l'eau du bain!
As the rhetoric over our relationship with Europe grow ever louder, some of the more enlightened (!) ministers are seizing the opportunity to stand tough and demand greater concessions from Brussels in support of the UK economy and UK businesses.
They would have you believe this is something new, yet the UK has historically been rather successful at securing such amendments.
Take, for example, Directive 2011/88/EU, the so called Flexibility package of the Non Road Mobile Machinery (NRMM) Directive which allows UK businesses to order a limited number of new diesel locomotives, and to re-engine old locomotives at the previous IIIa emissions limit instead of the otherwise mandatory IIIb standard.
After much negotiation, the Directive was passed into European law in November 2011, triggering a three year period for orders to be placed.
Yet, rather that shout about the great concession we have secured, UK Government has just sat on its hands.
Halfway through the extension period, the Directive is still not transposed into UK law, to the intense frustration of those businesses looking to invest in new or modified equipment, yet who cannot, in the UK, gain the necessary clearance for their plans.
And, whilst they wait, what is the best advice that Government can offer to industry?
To get approval from the Belgian Safety Authority!
