Ah, the EU – remember the EU?
All EU member states are breaking EU laws on some environmental issue. But there is vastly more coherence to pretty good standards within the disparate countries from Finland to Portugal and from Ireland to Romania than in the absence of the EU.
Just watch what happens in the UK over the next few years…
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Good for the EU and Mr.Macron.
What a tragedy for this country and for our wildlife that the Tories dragged this country out of the EU. It’s wildlife laws are of a good standard. Interesting that some of those laws/ directives were actually formulated by Stanley Johnson farther of Boris. (There is no accounting for it). There was/is many things wrong with the EU but the U.K. under a decent moderate government could easily have worked with our EU partners to rectify those deficiencies. We will come to rue the action of the Tories that dragged this country out of the EU. I would not be very surprised if, under this Government we end up with replacement wildlife protection laws which are a lot weaker and less robust than those of the EU.
“I would not be very surprised if, under this Government we end up with replacement wildlife protection laws which are a lot weaker and less robust than those of the EU.”
Those who campaigned for Brexit have long complained about ‘excessive red-tape from Brussels’ and there are certainly plenty of people in the Government and in the wider Tory party who can’t wait to start dismantling it all. The European Withdrawal Act guaranteeing continuity of EU derived legislation after Brexit day is merely a temporary arrangement to avoid regulatory chaos in the immediate aftermath of Brexit. As soon as they can start enacting new legislation to replace all of the regulations we have in place as a result of our EU membership they will. I think you are bang on the money when you speculate that this will result in weaker protection for the environment (and for workers health and safety, employment rights, consumer rights and so on…).
The sooner we can replace this government the better to limit the damage that they can do.
Well said
I’ve always thought that “bird lime” or glue is a particularly unpleasant way to catch birds and had thought that it was banned eons ago. That some folk in France still use it is appalling ( but no worse than out shooting Snipe or Golden Plover) the EU has taken exception as it should so President Macron has decreed it will stop, I hope he is more successful than the case to stop burning blanket bog here , also an EU infringement. The EU environment laws may be frequently broken but they were/are a good standard to work from. What do I think the chances of our shower in power putting equally good regulations in here to replace them, not very good to be honest. One day the accursed Tories will be made to pay for pandering to the little Englanders and taking us out of the, imperfect but better in than out, EU. Hopefully sooner rather than later and to pay very, very heavily rather like the Liberals in the early C20th.
Logically there is no reason we couldn’t have higher standards than the EU if we wanted to. Surely that means the problem isn’t in/out of the EU, it is our current Conservative government.
I think wild justice are doing a great job of raising the profile of these issues, to my mind, reaching a point where the UK public demand these standards from the government should be the aim.