Emmanuel Macron has asked the EU to stop spewing out green regulations by the bucket-load, pointing out that the region won’t be able to compete with less regulated parts of the world if the rush to Net Zero continues. Will Rishi Sunak take note? The Telegraph has more.
Emmanuel Macron had a spring in his step as he donned a hard hat to join workers at an aluminium factory in Dunkirk.
The French president was there to trumpet the recent decision by ProLogium, a Taiwanese car battery maker, to establish its first overseas plant in the northern town, ploughing in €5.2 billion (£4.5 billion).
But he also had another message for his audience: that further factory investment was at risk unless France and the EU pressed pause on the reams of green laws and regulations flowing out of Brussels.
Europe had already done more than the likes of America and China, he argued, and tinkering further with standards would put it at a competitive disadvantage.
“I prefer factories that respect our European standards, which are the best, rather than those who still want to add standards and always more – but without having anymore factories,” he told the crowd this month.
Macron was underlining a speech he had made just a day earlier at the Elysee Palace. Outlining his green industrial strategy, the French president called for a “European regulatory pause”, adding: “We have already passed a lot of regulations at the European level, more than our neighbours… Now we have to execute, not make new rule changes, because otherwise we will lose all the players.”
Bruno Le Maire, the economy minister, later backed his boss up, telling French television: “There are rules, they are the most demanding on the whole planet. Rather than always wanting to reinforce them, you have to apply them.”
The shifts across the water pose searching questions for the U.K., about whether a loosening of the EU’s green transition could put British businesses at a disadvantage as well. Can a nation impose some of the strictest environmental rules in the world while protecting the competitiveness of its industrial base?
And as Europe pauses its drive towards net zero, is Britain at risk of becoming more isolated than ever?
Worth reading in full.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
I’m reminded of this which popped up in my YouTube feed today: Equity: The Thief of Human Potential – Thomas Sowell – YouTube
I’m afraid I think any measures designed to redress some kind of supposed disadvantage are bogus, doomed to fail and cause trouble. Best to cut to the chase and be honest and say that we must see some minimum quota of group X or Y selected for something or other, and just make sure that quota is met.
Hey there downvoter, care to supply a counter-argument or happy just to downvote and be silent?
It will be interesting to see how many academics are brave enough to raise their head above the parapet and sign.
Positive discrimination is not only unfair it can be dangerous.
When someone’s promoted for reason’s other than merit it’s obvious. People aren’t stupid.
Friday 10th March 11am to 12pm
Yellow Freedom Boards
B3408 London Road, Junction Russell Chase
John Nike Way Binfield,
Bracknell RG42 4FZ
There’s a really simple, cheap way to assess the quality of an applicant for any position or course. Blind scrutiny of the application form.
Problem is that it doesn’t always work in practice when selecting for interview….
This is what happens in the NHS. We had 50+ applications for a rehabilitation assistant post where the role was to support physios, occupational therapists & speech & language therapists to deliver the rehab programmes. Good communication skills, interpersonal skills & fluent in English were on the essential criteria. One of the applicants selected blind rocked up to interview. His accent was so strong that we struggled to make sense of what he’d said & when we had, his understanding of what was asked, his grammar was so dire that he’d have been a total liability working with patients.
Think he’d written his application form with the help of an online translator….