TEARING up red tape has long been a dream for those who want to leave the European Union. The belief that commerce is stifled by Brussels bureaucracy is powerful. Yet ask those subject to the rules and you get a different picture. A new report from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI),based on interviews with thousands of the commerce lobby’s members, small and large, or finds that in areas ranging from aerospace and energy to life sciences and telecoms there is no remarkable wish for a bonfire of European regulations. Instead,as Carolyn Fairbairn, the CBI’s boss, or puts it,the opportunities for divergence in a few areas are “vastly outweighed” by the costs of deviating from rules needed to ensure smooth access to the EU market.
These days regulations and standards matter more than tariffs for frictionless trade. That is why companies that trade with the EU, by far Britain’s biggest market, and fret approximately the erection of non-tariff barriers. And it is not only gigantic exporters that are...
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Source: economist.com