Comment by sparkling | Hacker News Reader

Comment by sparkling | Hacker News Reader

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Its not FUD, its not a myth, its not cheap propaganda, its real: Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1677/88 of 15 June 1988 laying down quality standards for cucumbers [1]

Yes i know this regulation is no longer in place, thats not the point. The point is that the EU is a overblown bureaucracy that should not be in charge of regulating every silly little aspect of life across the various member states.

And yes, they are STILL passing laws like this. Recently they passend regulation that limits the power consumption over regular vacuum cleaners. Do you honestly believe that the average citizen wants highly paid bureaucrats in Brussels debating on how much power a vacuum cleaner should draw?

[1] http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:319...

The power consumption regulation (actually giving it a grade) for vacuum cleaners is just continuation of what EU has been doing with a lot of other household appliances like dishwashers/fridges/etc. Basically once you mandate a easy to understand energy consumption rating system to some type of product people do start to care about it. Especially if you mandate that this score has to be visible on the packaging and all advertising material.

> Do you honestly believe that the average citizen wants highly paid bureaucrats in Brussels debating on how much power a vacuum cleaner should draw?

I certainly do. Wait, there is no equivalent discussion of power draw of vacuum cleaners in the US? Well, then the EU might be at the forefront of consumer electronics regulations and in the end, that's very good for me.

Yes, there is similar regulation in the US that mandates every appliance have a standardized sticker indicating energy efficiency and where each particular model falls within defined classes.

I am quite happy with a number of the "bureaucratic rules" they produce, such as allowing the ban on roaming changes between EU countries and net neutrality for example.

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