Forum Topic

Why we want to keep high EU standards and not reduce them to India's standards

We keep being told the dangers of misusing antibiotics - taking them when they are not needed and not completing the course.  What is happening in India (and no doubt other countries) with the manufacture of these is also something we should be worried about.https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24232310-900-how-antibiotic-resistance-is-driven-by-pharmaceutical-pollution/

Philippa Bond ● 2716d10 Comments

How do you know our standards will not be higher or the same as the EU’s when we finally Brexit?

Martine Guy ● 2716d

Why not make them higher now then?  Nothing stops the UK from having higher standards than any EU standard.  Being in the EU does however stop the UK having lower standards...

Clare Noeken ● 2716d

Does anyone in the EU have higher standards than any EU Standard?

Martine Guy ● 2716d

That is a very good question.  A quick google tells me that the UK bans sow stalls completely, whereas the EU allows them for four weeks of use.  I can't find anything else, although maternity leave is one that springs to mind where the EU sets a minimum, and then different countries implement in different ways ('different' not necessarily meaning 'higher' of course).

Clare Noeken ● 2716d

You need to read the link on antibiotics and also see the clip of JR-M talking about how we could drop our standards here.  See also the Ch. 4 Dispatches programme

Philippa Bond ● 2716d

With regard to over-prescription of antibiotics, UK thinking leads the EU. In this specific area at least, the UK doesn’t need the EU.As for regulatory divergence between EU member states, the EU ‘Comitology Register’ is perhaps a good starting point…---This divergence between EU member states points to the very basics of how the EU governs. Even after all the heat of the Brexit debate, however, EU citizens seemingly still have little idea of these basics.The EU has several types of legal act, each with different levels of power and influence over the member states (hence the country-by-country divergence):- Regulations.- Directives.- Decisions.- Recommendations.- Opinions.---As for the EU Single Market, most ‘EU standards’ are nothing of the sort. This is because, around 80% of Single Market rules originate in international bodies sitting above the EU - with the EU's own treaties primed to increase this trend.This provides ammunition for remain and leave Brexit positions:- If pro-remain, the EU can be argued as having great influence on these international bodies – allowing the UK to punch above its weight. - If pro-leave, Brexit would give the UK the opportunity to directly influence these international bodies - rather than have the EU do it on the UK’s behalf.

Fraser Pearce ● 2716d

Good point Fraser but 27  countries under one banner (even if it takes longer to come to a joint decision) would surely have more influence than the UK alone.

Lucille Grant ● 2716d

So why would JR-M think it OK to lower our standards to those of India?  There should and would be an outcry here if we had antibiotics flowing into our waterways.

Philippa Bond ● 2716d

Perhaps, Lucille, perhaps not.In this context at least, post-Lisbon Treaty, the EU’s effectively one country, not 28 countries - hence a very influential ‘country’ (which may justify your point).Then again, the EU now no longer needs “a joint decision” from its member states. The Lisbon Treaty changed everything.This begs the question, what if the EU position is contrary to the UK’s (or any other member state’s)? What then?---On a practical level, the likes of Switzerland and Norway have as much sway in international bodies as the EU or USA. A Norway, Switzerland or Liechtenstein can suggest or block change if they see fit – that’s the point of the internationalist approach, power dispersed rather than centralised.

Fraser Pearce ● 2716d

I’m not a fan of JRM. Personally, I don’t think he’s as informed as he thinks he is (especially with regard to the WTO and Brexit).At the Treasury Select Committee, however, I’m not entirely sure JRM said he was in favour of lowering UK antibiotic standards to those of India.He spoke of Brexit giving the UK the right to accept the standards of other countries if the UK sees fit. I may be wrong, but his point seemed to be more about sovereignty and self-governance than “antibiotics flowing into our waterways”.

Fraser Pearce ● 2716d