Tuesday 22 January 2013

Why does big business oppose leaving the EU?

Pro-EU interests always trot out the large corporates who do not, under any circumstances, want to leave the EU.

Why is it that large corporates don't want to leave the EU? Surely they'd be better off without the burdensome yoke of EU regulations, free to trade in a simpler, less complex manner?

It's the same reason that these all-powerful corporations, with their massive clout from employing former ministers and civil servants seem to have incredible influence in shaping regulation, but somehow never manage to get rid of it.

It's the same reason that the mounds of regulation they face are massive, pointless box-ticking wastes of time.

All this regulation is a massive barrier to entry to new competition. Large corporates have already got the infrastructure to comply with all this, they are already able to cope with it all and they've adjusted their business processes to comply. If we left the EU tomorrow, there would be a massive reduction in the regulatory mountain any new competitor would have to climb and the incumbents would be left facing a much tougher competitive landscape.

And large corporates fear competition, they don't fear regulation, especially not when they can shape it to make it relatively easy for themselves to comply with.

Regulation may always start out as being for the protection of the little man, but it always ends up being for the protection of the regulated company.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

If we left the EU tomorrow, there would be a massive reduction in the regulatory mountain any new competitor would have to climb

I'd like to think so but I doubt it. Public Office seems to be a good filter for small-statists

Pierrepoint said...

When you have the head of polsters You Gov suddenly telling us ahead of Dave's big speech, that more people want to stay in the EU than want out, you can smell a rat. The head of You Gov is Peter Kellner who just happens to be married to the lovely Catherine Ashton.
Strange that!

Chi said...

Ironically, a large number of EU regulations and directives are drafted under the aegis of Articles 101 and 102... to promote competition within the single market.

wycombewanderer said...

Big business has the funds to lobby for the regulations that suits itself, that doesn't suit smaller leaner competition and which when the company grows so large;

BECOMES TOO FUCKING LARGE TO FAIL and has to be bailed out by the taxpayer no matter how badly they've fucked up!