Nanny State in the EU?

[Betonov]

Here's one for Sky, he knows more about the legislation in the EU

what would happen if by some miracle my goverment in Ljubljana had the cohones to tell Brussels that this law is absurd and will not implement it under any circumstances ??

[STEED]

Get stuffed EU.

BTW: Have you the EU signed off your accounts yet?
A 15 year joke!

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Betonov

Here's one for Sky, he knows more about the legislation in the EU

what would happen if by some miracle my goverment in Ljubljana had the cohones to tell Brussels that this law is absurd and will not implement it under any circumstances ??

I assume that the commission or the responsible commissioner would warn and warn, and finally would launch a EU legal prosecution against your country, which could lead to either the case being brought to a EU court and your government getting sentenced to comply, or the proclamation of financial fines by the commissioner's ressort office.

I do not know it for sure.

[Respenus]

Originally Posted by Skybird

I assume that the commission or the responsible commissioner would warn and warn, and finally would launch a EU legal prosecution against your country, which could lead to either the case being brought to a EU court and your government getting sentenced to comply, or the proclamation of financial fines by the commissioner's ressort office.

I do not know it for sure.

Will all due respect Sky, you are more or less right. Slovenia would, under EU law, be required to either put into effect (regulation) or transpose into national law (directive) a certain piece of legislation as adopted by the EU Parliament and the Council of the EU (people keep forgetting countries accept must approve legislation). If Slovenia did not comply, it would get a warning, which, if not respected, would put Slovenia in danger of appearing before the ECJ. In a certain period of time, Slovenia would still have the opportunity to actually do something and the Commission would request that the proceedings stop. If Slovenia decided during all this time to screw Brussels (even though it voted for the law at the EU level), the ECJ would decide if the country either broke the rules by not putting into effect, transposing, or transposing completely the piece of legislation. It is also possible for it not the be applied properly and this is why a court inside a member state can demand that the ECJ gives its legal opinion on the matter of the interpretation or application of EU law.

The author of the article in question is well know for his more that non-favourable regard of the EU in general. The problem is...I find myself agreeing more and with his opinion. The sensationalism is one of Bruno's problems. Some more moderation would serve him better. Yet the most important thing here is that the quoted rules are included in the guidelines. The guidelines which were published by the Commission to ensure "universal" compliance. These rules are not included in the law itself. But I'm not enough of a legal expert to answer whether or not guidelines are to be fully respected.

Yet the most important thing here is that the quoted rules are included in the guidelines

Which quoted rules?

[Respenus]

Originally Posted by Tribesman

Which quoted rules?

The rules in the article that say that balloons will need to be properly marked and the like. The guidelines, together with the directive (which has to be translated into national law and cannot be taken for literal law), can be found here.

@Betonov

Calm down, my good man. Countries are forced to pay fines, as we were forced to pay when we didn't transpose an environment directive in its fullest. No-one goes behind bars.

Let's just all take a deep breath and look at this from a perspective. Problematic? Yes. The most horrible piece of legislation and control over personal life ever? No. Don't mistake the Commission technocratic recommendation, for legal obligation.

[Betonov]

Nah, I'm just curious how far a country can go with not following one law from Brussels.
You break the law, get a fine, don't pay it and you go to jail and the fine is paid of by selling your assets. Cops enforce that ''transaction''
But there are no cops for countries. Who enforces EU laws if a member refuses to comply, who enforces paying the fine

[Respenus]

Originally Posted by Betonov

Nah, I'm just curious how far a country can go with not following one law from Brussels.
You break the law, get a fine, don't pay it and you go to jail and the fine is paid of by selling your assets. Cops enforce that ''transaction''
But there are no cops for countries. Who enforces EU laws if a member refuses to comply, who enforces paying the fine

You pay...trust me...It has yet to happen that a country or company didn't pay their fines or that a country didn't fix its internal law to follow the acquis. But now that you ask, I actually don't know the legal framework. I remember something about voting rights, but that's the extreme. Plus, the US would had lost its voting rights in the UN SC due to non-payment a long time ago. Same applies to the EU. Collective pressure or just too big.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Betonov

Nah, I'm just curious how far a country can go with not following one law from Brussels.
You break the law, get a fine, don't pay it and you go to jail and the fine is paid of by selling your assets. Cops enforce that ''transaction''
But there are no cops for countries. Who enforces EU laws if a member refuses to comply, who enforces paying the fine

You would normally go into a state of 'non compliance' and the threat of trade sanctions etc.

Much better to simply leave the EU IMHO....I wishthe UK would.

The rules in the article that say that balloons will need to be properly marked and the like.

So nothing at all about them being banned for kids

What you have is a chocking hazard label regulation which in that specific case concerning balloons is moved from another piece of existing legislation over labels from 2005 as balloons are covered elsewhere...like with suction cups used on decorations.
So no new legislation at all in that regard, just a unifying of an existing provision into another provision by referencing it.


If Bruno wanted to write some sensationalist nonsense about balloons he should have written it 6 years ago and gone on about how terrible it is that balloon packets have to contain this little slip of paper.
Or even better he could have written it when the rules that were redone in 2005 were originally written

BTW "Quoted Rules" thats plural isn't it, the only other one close to being a "quoted rule" most certainly doesn't say what he says it says does it.

[Respenus]

Here's the paragraph of the offending latex balloons, seen here, given only as an example:

According to article 18 of the TSD a Risk/Hazard assessment shall be carried out to determine the risks/hazards of a toy. The toy should be designed in such a way that as many hazards as possible are eliminated or that residual risk is minimized to an acceptable level. The residual risks should be described through adequate warnings and/or instructions for use. E.g. the risk of drowning presented by aquatic toys can not be 100% eliminated by the design of the toy. Therefore supervisors should be informed that the toy shall be used in shallow water and under supervision of an adult. For latex balloons there must be a warning that children under 8 years must be supervised and broken balloons should be discarded. Activity toys shall be provided with a warning that they are for domestic use only.

Again, guidelines, not the directive itself. Plus, I see no ban, merely instructions. You can print that on a small piece of paper that's attached to the packaging. Nevertheless, I should once again that what I do agree with, is that sometimes, things can be taken by the EU into a rather extreme direction. In the name of safety has rarely proven to be a positive argument.

@Betonov
No, there are no internal trade sanctions. Go have a beer, forget about things for a while You can get paranoid by staying in these forums for a prolonged period of time. Never has a single member of the EU taken aggressive action towards another and never has the Commission been put into a situation that would deprive countries of the most important contribution of the EU, that is trade. Yes, the EU has problems, massive ones at that, but please, let's not believe everything you see in the media. Or what people write in these forums, myself included. We can all be wrong. Take a look at the rules yourself, that's the beauty of things today. Free access to information. Use it to become a better citizen, of Slovenia and the EU. That goes for everyone.

[Betonov]

Then what, they'd put an entire nation of 2 million behind bars ?? Go to war ??

@Tribesman:

Here's one for Sky, he knows more about the legislation in the EU than me

Happy ??

Then what, they'd put an entire nation of 2 million behind bars ?? Go to war ??

There are 2 million people in the toy industry in Slovenia?
Are you making up for lost time like there was in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Call out Benny Hill

[Betonov]

No Chichi bang bang here, we only produce scale model Yugoslav partisan action figures