BFBEnergyPaper

4.4Long term solutions requiring Treaty changeBusiness opinion is clear: the central problem with the EU is that it legislates too much andthat too many of its laws are unnecessary exercises in micromanagement. In many waysthis is a historic problem of the EU; the current definition of ‘subsidiarity’ has failed to be aneffective legal block on the EU’s ever-growing remit. 167 There is very little support for moreintegration among businesses and the Prime Minister has also made his opposition to thisclear as well:“The EU must be able to act with the speed and flexibility of a network, notthe cumbersome rigidity of a bloc. We must not be weighed down by aninsistence on a one size fits all approach which implies that all countries wantthe same level of integration. The fact is that they don’t and we shouldn’tassert that they do.”- David Cameron, Bloomberg Speech 168This last section looks at how powers could be formally returned to the member states. Treatychange is a rare chance to enshrine the limits of the EU’s role and to give the UK a greater sayto block harmful laws. There is a need for much greater clarity in the Treaties setting out thelimits of what the EU can and cannot do in each policy area, including energy. Treaty changeshould clearly establish that the member states are responsible for determining their ownenergy mixes and that the EU has no role in setting renewables targets or attempting toalter energy policy beyond setting a single UNFCCC-approved emissions target. This wouldwin the support of many businesses.“It should be a national matter on how we decide to keep our lights on.”- Owner of a medium-sized manufacturing business based in the East MidlandsThe changes suggested in this section are much more substantial (and in several ways moreimportant) than the changes suggested above, and will require the EU to review hundredsof existing laws and to agree to Treaty change, both of which will require large amounts ofpolitical capital. However both are essential.It is clear that the existing EU laws need to be reviewed. The UK and other member statesshould push for existing EU energy rules to be reviewed by the Commission, Council ofMinisters and Parliament, with a view towards scraping unnecessary laws or to returnpowers back to the member states. Treaty changes should grant member states the right todemand that existing laws can be reviewed. The 224 laws administered by the Energy DGshould be reviewed to determine if they are working well and to work out whether the UKwould benefit from being exempt from the law in question. The cost/benefits in particularEnergy Policyand the EU167 ‘Subsidiarity’ was formally entered into the Treaties in 1992168 D. Cameron, ‘EU speech at Bloomberg’ (London, 23 January 2013) found at 52