In the first of his regular ‘columns’ for Planet Vending, Dave Ward, (pictured), considers the possible implications of the Tories’ proposed EU referendum.
So, we’re going to have a straightforward, ‘in / out’, ‘yes / no’ referendum on our membership of the EU, are we?
Assuming, of course, that Mr. Cameron is returned for a further term of office, his government will let the people decide whether we’re in or we’re out of Europe. (Having said that, according to today’s (7 March 2013) Daily Express On Line, the vote may come sooner than we thought…)
Is it just me, or are things not quite that black and white? Even if our well educated, engaged electorate (!) weighs the pros and cons and decides it’s adios, auf wiedersehen, au revoir; we can’t walk away from Europe, can we?
In common with Switzerland and Norway, surely we’d have to have some kind of trading agreement, some way of staying in business with our closest neighbours?
It’s a mad call to ask ordinary voters to make such a momentous decision. No offence, but you can imagine people deciding to vote ‘no’ on the basis that the EU messed with their bananas. With the ridicule that the Bendy Banana Law directed towards Europe, you could hardly blame the nation’s red-top readers for thinking that Brussels was little more than a portal to administrative Armageddon.
But to walk away all together would be madness. I can remember investigating working with a French company, back in the pre-enlightened days. The project involved taking a truck load of samples across European borders and, for those not old enough to remember how difficult that could be, let me remind you: First, you needed a carnet.
Take my word for it: faced with bags of samples and a grumpy customs man, you could waste hours and hours cutting through the red tape
A carnet allowed travellers to temporarily import their vehicles, or other items of value such as broadcasting equipment, (or vending machines and parts), without having to leave a cash deposit at the border. It was, in essence, an international guarantee for payment of customs duties and taxes to a government, should the items not be re-exported from that country.
Every single item had to be listed and the list had to be checked at each and every border crossing. Take my word for it: faced with bags of samples and a grumpy customs man, you could waste hours and hours cutting through the red tape. Any return to those days would be unthinkable.
The danger for the vending industry is clear: Great Britain is not a massive market for vending equipment. Tie a manufacturer’s hands with red tape and hit him with the incumbent costs hike and at some point, rest assured, a decision will be made that the potential rewards of selling machines in the UK are not sufficient to justify the increased aggravation of maintaining a presence here.
Trade barriers, whatever shape they come in, make goods more expensive.
I believe that the general public is concerned that the EU is not so much the economic, ‘Common Market’ we signed up for, as a perfidious, creeping political union bent on siphoning power from London to Brussels, weakening our sovereignty.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m no fan of the EU. I mean, how can you take an organisation seriously that hasn’t had its accounts signed-off formally in more than 20 years? How can you take an organisation seriously that is intent on raising its budget when the world is in economic crisis?
As barmy as the EU appears from time to time, a return to the dark days of the carnet and the border post is a bleak, bleak prospect.
What are your thoughts on the proposed EU referendum?Please click ‘comment’ to begin / join the debate, or e-mail editor@planet-vending
DAVE WARD IS MD of N&W, UK & SCANDINAVIA
You can read Dave Ward’s blog, ‘Managing In Vending’, by clicking here.
