to believe the EU should keep its grubby mitts off our vacuum cleaners

[longfingernails]

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/10423431/EU-energy-saving-rules-cut-power-of-vacuum-cleaners.html

We have enough nanny state petty interference and red tape from our own government. We don't need more from the unelected and unaccountable faceless bureaucrats from Brussels.

I'm with Friday. James Dyson grandstanding? Surely that could never happen!

Meanwhile, I'm going to look up Sebo UK, just so I can boycott them, because of James Binks' comments. "They embrace issues such as noise and will limit performance using unrealistic criteria." Spot the bloke who doesn't live in a flat, eh? A quiet vacuum is a very good thing- it means people can vacuum at 3am without waking me up!

It may appear that way but that isn't how it is. EU law comes in the form of European style law ie a statement of aim open to interpretation on how to get there. Other EU countries have always operated this type of legal system so go with the flow. The UK is unique in that its law is literal, what you see is what you get. So the UK follows the directive word for word whereas the others follow the overall intent.

citation needed.

Fucking EU cultish fuckwit twat prick bastard wanks. I wish they'd just fuck the fuck off and not return.

It may appear that way but that isn't how it is. EU law comes in the form of European style law ie a statement of aim open to interpretation on how to get there. Other EU countries have always operated this type of legal system so go with the flow. The UK is unique in that its law is literal, what you see is what you get. So the UK follows the directive word for word whereas the others follow the overall intent.

citation needed.

The College of Law, K Bamford et al (2013) Introduction to the European Union and to European Law 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, Oxford

A page number would be nice WestieMama?

p34

Citation needed? For the information that we have a common law system and our fellow EU states a civil law system? Really?

We were proud of our bright-coloured, soft, fruit-flavoured jam

I'm a jam-maker, and make both styles. Low sugar's lovely, but doesn't keep fantastically well unopened, and usually needs to be refrigerated once open (there's not enough sugar to desiccate mould). Higher sugar jams keep better, because they're much less hospitable places for mould. If I'm making high-sugar jam, I'm pretty relaxed about sterilising the jars, while I'm obsessive if it's low-sugar (and might even do that thing with paraffin wax to seal them). I like eating both styles.

It's also difficult to make marmalade without using large amounts of sugar. You end up with that strange "orange jam" stuff you sometimes get in Germany, which is very nice, but certainly not marmalade.

I'm not quite sure why the EU changing the lower limit on jam production is a thing: there's nothing stopping people using more, is there? But I'm a bit sceptical about the "high quality" / "low quality" being arbitrarily associated with sugar content: that's like chocolate snobs assuming axiomatically that higher cocoa content makes chocolate better, when a lot of people simply don't like 90%.

If every single EU rule about vegetable classification was removed, you would see no difference in the produce stocked in the fruit and veg aisle a year from now. If anything, the supermarkets grade to higher standards than the EU, because they grade to "will this be left on the shelf"?

Oddly-shaped vegetables that don't look like a life-size ELC model don't sell. Hang around a supermarket that sells loose veg for a week. Watch people's selection processes, and look at the shape of all the vegetables that are left over when the store closes.

www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/1174157/whos_to_blame_for_supermarket_rejection_of_ugly_fruit_and_vegetables.html

www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/sep/27/ugly-fruit-vegetables-supermarkets-harvest

Pilgit

These are proposed regulations - they are not law yet.

The point being made is that it shouldn't be up to the EU to even propose such regulations.

EeyoreIsh

But there's no suggestion that high powered vacuum cleaners will be banned. they'll still be allowed.

For now. Isn't it now illegal to sell plasma screen TVs in the EU? The reason is that they consume large amounts of power. That's a good example of legislation which once sought merely to classify devices by power rating being extended to ban high-power-consumption devices.

It would appear that either it's not illegal, or Argos are breaking the law.

www.argos.co.uk/static/Search/searchTerms/PLASMA+TV.htm

All I can find after extensive googling is someinformation about a ban in California. And a thread on another forum, which consists of people asking each other whether it's true plasma TVs are banned in Europe. No-one had any info though. It dated from 2009.

AnyBigFuckingJessie

It would appear that either it's not illegal, or Argos are breaking the law.

So the legislation from 2009 is either still under review or on hold. My mistake.

We are likely to see that legislation coming through at some point though.

Incandescent light bulbs have been banned now though, haven't they?

Ah, here we are. Either it def didn't go through, or, erm, manufacturers made plasma tvs that didn't guzzle electricity. In which case, win for the EU, I'd say.

www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/giant-plasma-tvs-face-ban-in-battle-to-green-britain-1299665.html

And apparently no such legislation banning plasma technology is possible.www.techradar.com/news/television/are-plasma-tvs-being-banned-in-the-uk-509598

That's the response to the independent's article, zll those years ago.

AnyBigFuckingJessie

Ah, here we are. Either it def didn't go through, or, erm, manufacturers made plasma tvs that didn't guzzle electricity. In which case, win for the EU, I'd say.

But perhaps not win for the consumer. Win for all the nice Eurocrats making rules, and for the Commission who get to legislate, but not for the people who have to pay for all the hijinks.

And apparently no such legislation banning plasma technology is possible.

By a side route, though, they could do it, by setting maximum power consumption requirements so low that plasmas simply couldn't be sold.

I'm going to have to differ with you on that, as I think pressure on manufacturers to make energy efficient products is absolutely a win for the consumer, both personally in terms of that damn leccy bill (in years gone by, I noticed how Argos stung young clueless people with those cheap G rated items) and also in terms of not having to build new power stations.

AnyBigFuckingJessie

I'm going to have to differ with you on that, as I think pressure on manufacturers to make energy efficient products is absolutely a win for the consumer, both personally in terms of that damn leccy bill (in years gone by, I noticed how Argos stung young clueless people with those cheap G rated items) and also in terms of not having to build new power stations.

Why EU legislation though? Why shouldn't that legislation come from the UK? There might well be demand for it, but we won't know because Parliament doesn't decide and there's no debate in the UK over it, either in the media or by the public. It's just decided.

The first step in regaining our national sovereignty should be leaving the European Court of Human Rights.

I don't believe this is really about vacuum cleaners.

I find this all quite odd.

Vacuums don't actually use anywhere near the rated power of the motor.
If they did the 2200W model mentioned, for instance, would heat a room up exactly like a 2200W fan heater and would be an immediate fire hazard, and the heat unable to escape properly would start to melt the body of the cleaner.

Basically it's just a technical nameplate claim and an easy way of model differentiation for marketing purposes.

Manufacturers will just find some way to have their motor suppliers rate their motors at a lower value.

westiemama,

It would be interesting to know when K Bamford thinks Ireland's legal system became so magically different to that of the UK.

Big Hmmmmmmmm from me.

I thought the banana thing was a joke

Sadly not, just as the current fad for having One Toilet Flush To Rule Them All is not a joke.

The first step in regaining our national sovereignty should be leaving the European Court of Human Rights.

Why? It's decisions aren't binding on the UK. The UK chooses to follow them but is completely free to ignore them if it wants, which the UK has done when it has suited.