One of the loudest boasts of the European Union Gauleiters has been their claim that, by instituting their Single Market, with the requirements that all commercial and industrial companies have to operate under the same rules and restrictions meaning that no-one within the Union can operate with an unfair advantage. Well, that is the general idea, but it all depends which country you operate in, and whether you abide by the rules at all times.
About seven years ago, the Commission bent under the pressure from animal and bird-friendly people, who tend to shout louder than most, and agreed that the old system which allowed crowded battery cages for egg-producing hens to be used throughout the Union would be outlawed, and new, environmentally-friendly group layer cages would be introduced throughout the Union by January 1st 2012. The investment in the new colony-cage systems is reputed to be, in the whole of the United Kingdom, running into £billions!
All so far, so good. But this extra investment, by the law-abiding British egg producers, now is placing our egg-producers at a distinct disadvantage from our cousins on the Continent, who in over a third of the total European egg producers, have not even commenced changing from the now supposedly-outlawed battery cages to the new, and very expensive, colony cage system. And apart from imploring all users of liquid and other illegally-produced egg to buy and use only British egg in their cakes, dough and products, our useless Government cannot, have not and will not outlaw the importation of the low-priced product from our European cousins across the Continent. Why, because that would be against the Law!
Fire, Pillage & Plague 