Late scrutiny of EU law is damaging competitiveness of British business
A new report published by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) compares the UK and EU regulatory systems
A new report published by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) compares the UK and EU regulatory systems, finding them to be worlds apart with no effective communication between them.
The report*, co-authored by Tim Ambler, Senior Fellow at London Business School suggests that MPs are failing to curb the flow of new regulation and as a result, the competitiveness of British business is reduced.
In a review of 246 Impact Assessments (IAs), which measure the cost of regulation, the report's authors, Tim Ambler, Senior Fellow at London Business School argues that the UK's formal consideration of proposed European law arrives far too late to amend the legislation prior to its enactment.
The UK's 12 EU Parliamentary Scrutiny committees process a mass of paper to no visible benefit and unconnected from the UK's IA system, which should cover the same ground.
With the EU accounting for a cumulative £53 billion cost of new regulation to business since 1998, it is vitally important for the UK's IA process to be synchronised with the EU's. By failing to do this, the two systems are totally disjointed and at a substantial cost to UK companies.
UK-only regulation also requires far stronger challenge from MPs who now merely rubber stamp it through without asking the key question: why does the UK need this new regulatory burden when the rest of Europe does not?
Tim Ambler from the London Business School said "Ministers and civil servants have usurped Parliament's fundamental role as legislators. It is high time MPs asserted their authority and rejected unnecessary regulation."
"UK impact assessments for proposed regulations are not perfect, but they are better than the EU's. However, our IAs are seldom available in time to guide decisions in Brussels. For the UK this is a missed opportunity."
*The report was carried out by Francis Chittenden from Manchester Business School and Tim Ambler from London Business School.
Please see the full report attached.