Open Europe has published a new report looking at the cost of regulation in the UK and EU over the last decade. The report, titled "Out of Control? Measuring a decade of EU legislation", is one of the most comprehensive studies ever undertaken on the topic in the UK.

Analysing more than 2,000 of the UK Government's own Impact Assessments, Open Europe found that regulations introduced between 1998 and 2008 have cost the UK economy £148.2 billion. Of this £106.6 billion, or nearly 72%, had its origin in EU legislation.

EU regulations introduced since 1998 have therefore cost the UK economy almost £107 billion - far more than the UK's total gross contributions to the EU budget over the same period.

In the report, Open Europe argues that because of the high proportion of regulations being made in Brussels, "The Government effectively has control of less than 30 percent of the annual cost of regulation." The report concludes that initiatives to cut red tape, as well as the system of scrutiny in the UK are misdirected as they fail to take this in to account.

Moreover, the study finds that the cost of regulation is going up all the time. Since the UK Government launched its 'Regulatory Reform Agenda' in 2005, the annual cost of regulation in Britain has gone from £16.5 billion in 2005 to £28.7 billion in 2008 - an increase of 74%.

The report was featured on the BBC's Politics Show yesterday. Open Europe's Research Director Mats Persson appeared on the show presenting the findings. On the programme, Labour MP Gisela Stuart welcomed the report, saying, "I think you need to look at where legislation is made, who is responsible for what, and whether it's been properly assessed...and at what the unintended consequences of legislation are."

In a press release, Shadow Minister for Europe, Conservative MP Mark Francois, also welcomed the study, saying "This valuable research is further proof that the cost of EU regulation on business is too high. These are difficult times and our businesses need to compete in a global market. The burden of regulation needs to come down instead of going up."

The report was also covered in the Financial Times. The article quoted Simon Wolfson, Chief Executive of Next - who wrote the foreword to the report - saying: "Over the past 10 years, the government has paid lip service to the idea of regulatory reform...Despite the rhetoric, this report shows the annual cost of regulation has skyrocketed."
BBC Politics Show FT Reuters Telegraph: Hannan blog Out of Control? Measuring a decade of EU regulation
Original article... HERE