Event: the Single Market

New packaging rules would obliterate even the meagre economic advantages of belonging to the Single Market. New EU regulations on packaging materials have come into force this month, and they have accidentally broken the Single Market. Laws designed to regulate the content of packaging to increase recycling and reduce environmental waste have had dramatic unintended consequences, and they have landed the bloc in a state of paralysis. All of a sudden, businesses across the continent have realised that it may be illegal for them to send parcels to customers based in different European countries. To comply with the new regulations, businesses must register with the packaging-regulation schemes in each EU member state and, in some cases, even appoint an authorised local agent before they can trade with customers in these countries. As there are 27 member states in the EU, exporters now need to comply with up to 26 different packaging-regulation schemes if they want to export their products. This has been criticised as a bureaucratic monster by trade associations throughout Europe. While Europe’s large corporates are likely able to wear the costs of these regulations, especially those with offices in multiple member states, small traders like booksellers, wine merchants and arts suppliers – to name but a few examples – are about to be clobbered by a litany of new compliance costs. These will be so expensive and time-consuming to bear that many of their exports may become unviable. European trade lawyers have said that appointing registered representatives may cost each business €2,000 per country. Non-compliance with these rules can lead to hefty fines of up to €200,000 and even bans from trading. By making compliance so expensive, the EU has made it highly likely that many small businesses will withdraw from exporting their products across Europe altogether. The…