VICKY Ford MEP for the East of England has demanded that EU Commissioners make wide changes, print fewer laws and focus on helping build economic growth.
Mrs Ford was speaking on behalf of the European Conservative and Reformist Group (ECR), the third largest group in the Parliament during a debate on the EU’s work plan for the next year. This followed an announcement that the incoming EU Commission intends to scrap many new EU laws, including the so-called plant reproductive materials directive. Mrs Ford has campaigned against this directive warning it will damage the horticulture sector worth nearly £10 billion to the UK economy and remove much loved garden plants from local nurseries.
In a wide ranging speech in the plenary chamber in Strasbourg, Mrs Ford cautioned the new Juncker Commission not to introduce new rules on a political whim and urged them to cut waste from the EU budget. She said serious action needs to be taken to stop abuses of the migration system both within the EU and from outside.
Mrs Ford said "Every EU initiative should face a simple test: will it make it easier or harder for businesses to thrive? Too often the EU churns out new laws without thinking through the impact on growth, on small businesses, on innovation. This must stop.
"Instead of focusing on yet more new laws we should make sure the existing ones work. And if they don’t, then we must change them. The last Commission promised to remove burdens – will this new team keep the promise? Will you set a target for cutting red tape – and then stick to it?"
Mrs Ford also reminded President Juncker of his promise to keep a Chief Scientific Advisor and asked him to keep that promise. The East of England is home to a world famous science community and Mrs Ford has received many complaints from constituents concerned about the news that the contract for the current scientific advisor, Professor Anne Glover, had expired.
Commenting afterwards on Commission plans, Mrs Ford said "The EU needs to change, the single market is meant to help trade, help growth – it’s not meant to be a one-size-fits-all monolith, not meant to add red tape and regulation. Taking some proposed laws off the table is a step in the right direction and as a gardener I’m delighted that the crazy law on plants and seeds has been sent to the compost heap".
