NormanS
Well-known member
Belgium has a coastline of what, 50 miles or so? Seems to me to be an easily avoided problem.
So Belgians are applying THEIR law - not the EU.
Suspect the UK case is firmly in the pending tray as its relevance may soon go away.
No, but maybe because when some other EU countries choose to ignore or implement their own version of an EU directive that suits them, it seems OK, but when we do it........
There is also an international law that allows the purchase on red deisel outside the EU.
Oh right, so Brexit was a vote against national sovereignty, was it? Or only for foreigners.
Perhaps. A loophole which allows any yacht which has visited Britain to explain away red diesel in its tanks may not be wholly welcomed. Perhaps we could change the colour of our untaxed fuel - wasn't it green in Ireland at one time, and blue for inland waterways use?
Yes, that's the "argument". One reasons with Brexiters in much the same way as one reasons with two year olds - smile brightly, give them a rusk, mop up the dribble and move on to something more intellectually rewarding, like cutting one's toenails.
When I lose I move on ...
A small example of the difficulty of having one policy for a diverse bunch of nations.
Belgium has no right to fine boats - all we are doing is filling up on diesel from our marinas and going sailing - isn't crossing borders with no constraints one of the founding features of the EU? -
Therein lies the entire problem with the EU in a nutshell.
So the problem you see is that Belgium and the UK have different policies, and you think the EU should have done more to enforce the same rules across all member states?
This crazy situation is because bureaucrats and politicians have had an inability over years to sort this out, and the fallout lands on the boat owner. If it were the politicians and bureaucrats who ended up with the bills it would have been sorted a long time ago. Belgium has no right to fine boats - all we are doing is filling up on diesel from our marinas and going sailing - isn't crossing borders with no constraints one of the founding features of the EU? How is it at all our fault? Not surprised issues like this encourage a Brexiteer vote.
However, Belgium is a country that has an almost non existent political government so is in the hands of unelected civil servants who believe only the "rules" matter. A microcosm of the EU problem.
I am afraid they do have the right. .
Whilst I do not dispute their legal rights, you misunderstand my post. The situation is contrary to the principals of free movement ...
We're all - for the moment - perfectly free to move to Belgium, but we can't take anything we want with us. And of course the same goes the other way round; try entering the UK with pot bought legally in Amsterdam, a gun bought legally in Brussels or a locking blade knife bought legally in Paris.
So now the EU problem is that countries can have their own laws and choose whether or not to enforce EU directives?
That may well be, but:
The free movement of goods, the first of the four fundamental freedoms of the internal market, is secured through the elimination of customs duties and quantitative restrictions, and the prohibition of measures having an equivalent effect. The principles of mutual recognition, elimination of physical and technical barriers, and promotion of standardisation were added in order to continue the completion of the internal market.
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/atyourservice/en/displayFtu.html?ftuId=FTU_3.1.2.html
Whilst I can understand problems in the areas you highlight, these are very different in nature to fuel.