The CBI is the Voice of Brussels

The CBI claims that it is the ‘voice of British business’, representing the interests of British companies in the EU and that ‘our members expect us to speak out against harmful European legislation on business, as we often do.’

But new research from Vote Leave found that only 1% of all CBI press releases are critical of the EU. In the year’s worth of CBI press releases that we analysed, the CBI did not challenge a single one of the 2,337 new laws the EU passed - or a single one of 852 new EU court judgments issued in the same period. The CBI also promotes the EU on the vast majority of occasions it discusses European issues.

The CBI claims that it is the ‘voice of British business’, representing the interests of British companies in the EU and that ‘our members expect us to speak out against harmful European legislation on business, as we often do.’ 

But new research from Vote Leave found that only 1% of all CBI press releases are critical of the EU. In the year’s worth of CBI press releases that we analysed, the CBI did not challenge a single one of the 2,337 new laws the EU passed - or a single one of 852 new EU court judgments issued in the same period. The CBI also promotes the EU on the vast majority of occasions it discusses European issues.

Commenting, Vote Leave co-Treasurer Peter Cruddas said:

‘The CBI claims to be the “voice of business” but it is more interested in promoting the EU than fighting for what is good for Britain.

‘The CBI leadership uses “dodgy” polling to justify its pro-EU stance which is out of kilter with mainstream business opinion. They tell Ministers not to push for reform when most businesses think that the EU hinders rather than helps them.

‘The CBI is funded by the EU so it is no surprise that it almost never criticises it. The CBI is not properly representing British business interests - it is the Voice of Brussels.’

ENDS

For more information please contact the Vote Leave press office on 0207 952 5440

Notes to Editors 

The CBI claims to represent British firms in the EU

The CBI claims to be the ‘voice of business’, that it is ‘an early warning post’ against EU proposals, and that it conducts a ‘lobbying effort on behalf of British business - with a focus on the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council’. In October 2015, the CBI stated that ‘our members expect us to speak out against harmful European legislation on business, as we often do.’

CBI press statements

Vote Leave  has analysed all 335 press statements that were issued by the CBI between 22 September 2014 and 22 September 2015 to see what the CBI said about the EU. Of the 335 press statements that the CBI put out in that period, just 4 or 1% were critical of the EU or laws it has passed.

In total, 78 CBI press statements made substantive comments on the EU - 65 of those were positive about the EU.

The table below summarises the overall view of the EU that each press statement took: 

CBI press statements making
substantive comments on the EU
(22 September 2014 – 22 September 2015)

No.

Total

78

Positive about EU

65

Neutral about EU

9

Negative about EU

4

The CBI’s 65 positive press statements about the EU are provided in Annex 1. The CBI’s 4 negative press statements about the EU are contained in Annex 2.

The CBI criticised no new EU legislation or EU court decisions

None of the 335 CBI press statements over the last twelve months criticised a single one of the 2,337 new EU laws adopted during the sample period. Nor did they criticise a single one of the 852 new EU court judgments issued. In total, the CBI criticised only nine specific existing or proposed pieces of EU legislation and EU court decisions between 22 September 2014 and 22 September 2015. These are shown in Annex 3.

Examples of EU legislation or case law in the course of the year ending 22 September 2015 which had a major effect on the UK, and on which the CBI remained silent, include:

  • Tax hikes on energy saving materials. On 4 June 2015, the ECJ ruled that the UK’s reduced rate of VAT of 5% on ‘energy saving materials’ was contrary to EU law. Experts stated that the ruling was a direct challenge to the Chancellor’s commitment not to raise VAT before 2020. The ruling will cost those who want to reduce energy bills hundreds of pounds in extra VAT, which may rise to 20%. It will reduce demand in the home insulation sector.
  • New budget burden for British businesses. On 12 December 2014, the EU definitively adopted amending budget (no.6) to the 2014 budget. This gave effect to the €2.1 budget surcharge imposed on UK taxpayers by the European Commission on 17 October 2014. The bill will fall in part on British businesses.
  • A ban on telling people that potatoes fill you up. Less costly but bizarre EU regulations adopted in the year ending 22 September 2015 included Commission Regulation 2015/391/EU, which prohibited food businesses claiming that ‘[c]omplex carbohydrates contribute to satiety’.  

The CBI also failed to criticise other major EU legislation or proposals affecting business

During this period, the CBI also failed to criticise other items of EU legislation or EU legislative proposals which have a major impact on British business:

  • New VAT rules for small businesses. On 1 January 2015, Council implementing Regulation 2013/1042/EU came into force. This had significant consequences for small businesses, requiring those selling to other EU countries to pay VAT there rather than in the UK. Micro businesses complained it would have a particularly adverse impact on them.
  • New proposals for bank regulation. During the year ending 22 September 2015, major proposals for EU regulation of banking structure were discussed. There are fears that these proposals will cut across the UK’s own legislation ‘ringfencing’ investment and retail banking, known as the Vickers reforms. Despite the potentially serious impacts on British companies and consumers, the CBI did not comment on these proposals between September 2014 and September 2015.
  • Higher energy bills. In October 2014, the European Council endorsed new binding targets to reduce carbon emissions, including a 40% reduction in emissions from their 1990 level by 2030, which are estimated to have put up bills for consumers and businesses. The CBI endorsed this decision.
  • Making mortgages harder to understand. Between 4 February 2014 and 21 March 2016, the UK must implement the Mortgage Credit Directive. According to the Financial Times, the requirement in the Directive on lenders to display more than one interest rate left borrowers liable to be ‘completely confused’. The Directive was also criticised as ‘redundant’ in the UK, where consumer protection was already strong. 

Limited CBI criticisms of the EU inconsistent with CBI pro-EU policy

On the few occasions where CBI press statements did criticise existing EU legislation, the criticism was usually inconsistent with the CBI’s pro-EU policy. One EU regulation the CBI dislikes is the Working Time Directive, and it has called for the subject to ‘be left to member states’. Ending the EU’s ability to regulate working time would require treaty change. Yet the President of the CBI, Mike Rake, has claimed that reform of the EU can be achieved without treaty change. Likewise, the CBI’s claim that the EU’s Emissions Trading System is ‘not currently incentivising low-carbon investment’ is inconsistent with a CBI press statement explicitly promoting the scheme.

Methodology

An analysis of the 355 press statements issued by the ‘CBI Press Team’ between 22 September 2014 and 22 September 2015 was conducted. Each press statement was first categorised by whether it mentioned the EU, or an EU-related topic. 127 press statements mentioned the EU or an EU-related topic: 37.9% of the total. These 127 statements were then analysed by whether they were pro-EU (65), anti-EU (4) or neutral (58). Most of the neutral statements (49) did not contain any substantive comments on the EU. For press statements containing both positive and negative sentiments about the EU, the press statement was categorised by reference to its overall sentiment to the EU. The press statements were then further broken down by whether they contained negative sentiments about specific EU legislation or EU court judgments.

The volume of EU legislation was calculated using the EU’s EUR-Lex database, using the following search parameters: the sum total of binding acts (regulations, directives and decisions), excluding corrigenda, dated between 22 September 2014 and 22 September 2015 was calculated. This calculation showed 2,337 EU laws passed in that period. The volume of EU court decisions was calculated using the same database. The calculation showed 852 judgments of the Court of Justice and General Court in Luxembourg, dated between 22 September 2014 and 22 September 2015.

For the full list of CBI press releases that were negative or positive about the EU please download the annex tables here.

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