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People always moan about "excessive" codes and standardisation and laugh at US Federal and European agencies. However, they do make life a lot easier and safer.
Sometimes. The problem is that they also come up with things which nobody wants and which are a solution looking for a problem.

Take the Federally imposed seatbelt interlock fiasco of the 1970s, for example. The Feds mandated that all new cars be fitted with an interlock to prevent the engine from being started until the driver's belt was buckled. The whole concept was so ridiculous and unpopular that the law lasted only a few months and the govt. was forced to repeal it and allow dealers to disable those cars already fitted with it (although by all accounts most had already been bypassed by their owners).

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The Swedish population is more EU-sceptical than the British
Is that possible? [Linked Image]

I think my views on the EU as a whole are well-known, and I don't want to stray into politics, but quite a lot of the entries on that Euromyths site don't give the full story (e.g. metrication). Some pieces of legislation were averted at the last minute, but the threat was very real at one time.

There are also several items listed as "myths" which the site actually confirms are true, such as the infamous Fire exit signs law.

I'll concede that there is also a lot of nonsense spouted by the media, such as the "everybody will have to rewire their house" garbage, but don't you think that is at least part-fueled by the very real regulations which are overly restrictive?



[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 02-17-2005).]