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CONTINENTAL DRIFT
Page 9
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IS EUROPE ON THE LEVEL?
Barry Proctor ponders our attitude to Europe in the wake of electoral gains by the UK Independence Party and wonders what happened to the concept of a level playing field.
Back in the heady 1980s a group of poodle-haired rockers called Europe released a song entitled The final countdown. It spent two weeks at number one and 15 weeks in the charts and is still remembered fondly by some people to this very day. Europe, the Union, on the other hand seems to lack the popularity of its namesake. It seems to be increasingly loathed across vast swathes of the Europe, the Union, on the other hand seems to lack the popularity of its namesake. It seems to be increasingly loathed across vast swathes of the
Continent. Indeed, if the results of the European Parliament elections are anything to go by then much of this country is getting fed up with EC rules hence the large vote for a single-issue political party like the somewhat rabid UKIP.
Continent. Indeed, if the results of the European Parliament elections are anything to go by then much of this country is getting fed up with EC rules hence the large vote for a single-issue political party like the somewhat rabid UKIP.
God forbid that we should all vote that way but you can certainly argue that its new-found success represents a growing sign of disaffection with the EU. I can safely say I've had enough of some of the rules we are forced to abide by. And we're not alone. A Dutch haulier recently told me that over in Holland the industry is just as annoyed about the VVTD as we are over here.
One problem that hasn't really been touched on yet is the issue of Europe-wide enforcement. We all know that certain countries seem to be a little bit more, excuse my French, laissez-faire when it comes to enforcing regulations than we are here. And equally the British are seen as a bunch of jobsworth pencil-pushers who really, really like sticking to the rules. This doesn't seem too far from the truth at times. We do over-egg the pudding when it comes to rules and regulations, enforcing them more fiercely than, it seems, anywhere else in Europe.
But there's no excuse for the sort of flagrant rule breaking you see from time to time: last week I was present at a VOSA check when they pulled in an Irish driver who was (wait for it) long over his hours. Nothing hugely shocking in that, but when you learn that this was the fourth time he'd been pulled over for hours offences in a month then you have to wonder.
Barry Proctor owns Barry Proctor Services, which is based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.