Imperial Party forum

thomas davison

The EU has destroyed some of our most prosperous industries - and will continue to do so....

How much is the EU limiting British industry?

Six years ago, Sir Mervyn King (now Lord King), who was then the governor of the Bank of England said....

In Europe over the past four decades. A British business � often one that has been outstandingly successful � finds itself under siege from the bureaucracy of the EU. The vast majority of times that this has happened, we have not heard about it. But look into almost any of our industries and you will find something, somewhere that has been handicapped or damaged by the European Union.

Did the EU deliberately set out to hurt our auction industry? I don�t know. But this was a case where Britain was the most successful country in Europe and rules were made in Brussels by people who, at best, did not care about the damage they would do.

The best-known example is our fishing industry � although, even in this case, I doubt that most people are aware of the full extent of the damage.

Britain used to enjoy fishing areas that extended up to 200 miles from our coast. Under the terms under which we joined the EU, this distance was reduced to just 12 miles � and even that has depended on a concession that has to be renewed every 10 years.

The biggest effect on this once-great industry was in the early years. But even now, the damage continues. British landings of fish were down to 756,000 tonnes in 2014 � a 19 per cent decline since 1998. We have lost access to fishing sales that would otherwise now be worth �2 billion a year.

And the EU rules are crass and wasteful into the bargain, with thousands of tonnes of fish being discarded � just thrown away. As if this were not bad enough, we have to donate British taxpayers� money to other fishing countries � particularly Greece and Poland.

British fisherman landing cod

I have long been an addict of auctions and, for a brief but happy time, I was the auctions correspondent of The Daily Telegraph. It is only because of this that I am aware of another industry damaged by the dead hand of the EU.

When I went to the London sales in the Eighties and Nineties, Britain competed with New York to be the leading auction city in the world. It was exciting to be at the hub of the world art market. Now I look up the latest figures and see that London is a country mile behind New York and that China has overtaken us, too.

Admittedly, that is not all the fault of the EU � but some of it is. The most valuable part of the art market is post-war and contemporary art.

This has suffered in Britain because of the droit de suite imposed by the European Union, which stipulates that a payment has to be made to an artist or his descendants every time one of his or her paintings is sold, a rule that applies until 75 years after the artist has died.

Naturally, buyers want to avoid this tax and, if it is at all convenient, they go to New York instead of London.

The result has been that Britain�s share of sales by living artists crashed from 36 per cent in 2008 to just 16 per cent in 2013. Since then, our share has declined even further.

Did the EU deliberately set out to hurt our auction industry? I don�t know. But this was a case where Britain was the most successful country in Europe and rules were made in Brussels by people who, at best, did not care about the damage they would do.

Over the past decade there has been a tenfold increase in the volume of EU law on financial services. More and more activities are coming under the control of majority voting and one of our remaining successful industries is in danger

Britain has also been a world leader in science � not only a subject of study, but as a business. Britain used to conduct 12 per cent of the clinical trials in the world. Now we only carry out one per cent.

What happened?

The European Union passed the Clinical Trials Directive which, in the words of the scientist Matt Ridley, �destroyed clinical trials in this country�. Since the directive was passed, it has been reformed and made more reasonable, but� too late.

The industry had already gone to India and elsewhere. It�s a similar story in agricultural biotechnology. We had a leading role here until the European Union�s �deliberate release� directive on testing genetically modified crops or insects.

Now the process for obtaining approval for experiments in this area is so cumbersome that most scientists have given up even applying for it.

And so the list goes on. Almost by accident I discovered that British ports are currently fighting against the proposed �Port Services Regulation�.

This is an EU proposal designed for the majority of European ports, which are state-owned. It ignores the fact that British ports are private, competing enterprises.

It contains a proposed rule about charges not being �disproportionate�, which may not be a problem for state industries receiving subsidies, as Hamburg does.

But a private company has to raise tens of millions of pounds to finance expansion. Those who put up the money do not want to take the risk that some charges might be deemed unlawful.

Of course, the really big fish is the financial services industry, which Sir Mervyn was attempting to defend. Just as our auction houses were world leaders, so the City was and � so far � remains pre-eminent.

But again, either because they do not care or are envious, other countries in the European Union have sought to bring it down. In the wake of the 2008 crisis, a Financial Transaction Tax was proposed by the bureaucrats in Brussels.

Britain would have been the country overwhelmingly damaged by this. Our business would have been driven away to America, Singapore and elsewhere.

The Chancellor, George Osborne, described the proposal as �a bullet aimed at the heart of London�. Incidentally, what sort of friendly �union� is it that aims a gun at one of the biggest and most successful industries of one of its members?

Britain managed to fend off the attack. But the trend is clear. Over the past decade there has been a tenfold increase in the volume of EU law on financial services.

More and more activities are coming under the control of majority voting and one of our remaining successful industries is in danger.

A revolution is taking place whereby largely British control of financial services is increasingly being replaced with EU regulations.

A British government report has even complained that the idea of subsidiarity is being abused. The British have experience of building a successful world financial centre. None of the other EU countries have any such experience.

It is curious thing that the damage done to Britain by the European Union is not widely recognised. Perhaps it is because it is done piecemeal and over a long period of time.

Of course, it is not only Britain that is affected by damaging regulations: other European countries are, too. And this may be part of the reason why the European Union has been become the sick continent of the world � struggling even to get back to the level of economic activity of 2007.

We keep on being hurt by the EU and its strictures, but many people cling to it despite this. There is a danger, here, of behaving like an abused wife who, to the frustration of those who want to help her, keeps on making excuses for the man who beats her.

In a similar way, it may take some bravery for us to get away from the unloving embrace of the European Union � but a series of British industries could benefit enormously if we make the CLEAN break...