No Deal Will Make UK A Colony Of Europe

This summer the EU banned the use of the derivatives of the African Marigold for use in fragrances.  This was the result of deliberations in the Scientific Committee for Consumer Safety.  This is a body made up of scientists from across Europe co-opted for their expertise in the question on hand.  Its recommendations are passed on to the EU Commission. It then makes a judgement on what to do with the advice - typically passing them into a notice which later ends up in the regular reviews of EU directives.  The African Marigold has a propensity to cause skin reactions, so consumers are now just a bit safer than they would be otherwise.


This is the sort of thing that is going on all the time and is the regular business of the EU.

Of course had we left the EU we'd have had to come to some kind of decision about what the UK should do about this.  We could decide that Britons won't be slaves and we'll bravely carry on suffering skin reactions.  We could decide that we are more refined and sensitive than other Europeans and ban them not only in perfumes but in other products as well.  And while we are at, ban some other members of the daisy family too.

But we know what the reality is.  Perfume manufacturers in the UK, there are quite a few of them as it happens,  will simply have to comply with the EU regulations if they want to supply the European market.  They will have to carry on doing just as they do now, keeping an eye on what the regulations mean for their business.  They won't be consulted on the regulations in the way they are currently.  What they won't be able to carry on doing is sell in the EU with everyone simply assuming that their products are just the same as all other European manufacturers.  No doubt their salespeople are working on this, but it will be another hurdle to making a sale.

In the meantime, what would the UK government do?  The easiest thing to do is to simply match the EU regulation.   They don't want to end up on Watchdog explaining why British people with sensitive skins are getting reactions to materials that the EU has already banned.   This would be particularly embarrassing if a European company had shipped some fragrance that was banned in Europe to the UK where it was allowed. 

So basically unless we have some deal in place we'll simply have to slavishly follow the regulations that the EU passes, pretty much to the letter.   Effectively the no deal means turning the UK into a colony.