http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30643357

How will a smart TV know when to switch off?

I've no problem with this if it's implemented sensibly, but EU rules and regs tend to go too far soon enough.

Really?

Name seven.

The regs are usually fairly sensible, it's the implementation that's the issue. Different EU countries interpret the regs differently, leading to variations that put businesses at a disadvantage in some countries and lead to rules that one country sees as fine but another country/culture sees as 'silly'.

Fundamentally, while the EU wants everything to be the same everywhere in Europe, it just isn't. And unless we unravel a thousand years of history, a dozen different cultures and probably as many different languages, it probably is never going to be. So the EU is always going to be an imperfect organisation. The question is are the bits where it works worth the bits where it doesn't.

I'm not against the EU and it's principles, far from it. But the EU has a habit of sometimes trying to hammer square pegs into round holes, simply because to wants everyone to be a round peg. That's never going to work well.

Examples?

The regulations on transportation of livestock seems an obvious one. Cause of much friction over the years.

What in particular? The requirement of a Certificate of Competence and a journey under 8 hours seems, at least to me, to be rather sensible, at least in principle. The fact that there has been friction is not really an indicator of the legislation's efficacy, surely? One could make the most sensible legislation ever conceived but have it originate 'in Europe' and it will cause friction.

Err.. try going back and reading what I said, you've pretty much made the same point. Although I'd disagree in one sense that there's a lot more 'it's not how we've done things before so why should we change' about it than being 'it's come from Europe so we won't do it'. And it's not in the least just a British attitude, of course.

No I haven't - I've made the opposite point.

The legislation hasn't arisen because the EU simply wants everyone to be the same. It has arisen because there is a minimum standard of animal welfare that every member country should adhere to. There's no requirement for all countries to be the same - just that they have to be above a minimum level.