Life in the European Union is increasingly beyond satire.

Laws are being proposed that will force anyone selling eggs to label them by weight or volume – as opposed to simply telling the customer how many eggs there are in the box!

The European Union has well-established reputation for making up daft regulations. In fairness, it also ought to be given credit for a massive liberalisation of trade between member states. The problem is that, with that job done, there are now thousands of people hanging around the European Commission and Parliament with no clearly defined role.

They need to be seen to be doing something to justify their generous salaries and expenses. For all the big talk about European integration, the real power in Europe remains with the governments of member states. So, if Eurocrats want to feel important, it can only be at the expense of those weaker than themselves – individual citizens and small businesses.

Labelling laws sound innocuous, but career politicians and bureaucrats simply cannot grasp that they cost business a lot of money. Labelling and weighing machines cost money. The process of physically labelling and weighing costs money. Fines for non-compliance as part of a cynical revenue raising exercise cost money. The costs can be borne by big industrial businesses but not by tiny farm shops selling directly to the public.

The net effect of almost all regulation is to give big business a competitive advantage over small business.

It is another example of Parkinson’s Law. The work of bureaucrats – and politicians – expands with their number. Yet it is worse than that: the work of the citizens and businesses who have to deal with them expands as well.