EUROPEAN governments are to scrap dozens of “unnecessary” and “patronising” EU laws and directives under a plan to make the Union less bureaucratic and more in touch with the lives of its citizens.

The “bonfire of the diktats” will put an end to Europe-wide rules on the length of ladders that window cleaners can use, and laws on the materials that have to be used for children’s playgrounds.

The ambitious plan to roll back the rules made by the European Commission, which is being championed by the Dutch Government and supported by Britain, is a response to the growing concern that Brussels interferes too much in daily life, and that more decisions should be left to national governments.

About half of all laws in Britain are drawn up in Brussels and then adopted by Westminster. For environmental legislation, nearly 90 per cent of laws are made in Brussels, with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs threatened with fines if it does not put them into effect. There are 2,500 EU directives in force, with hundreds added every year.

Under the plan, which will be put forward when the Dutch assume the EU presidency next month, governments have until December to agree 40 EU laws that should be abolished. The Dutch Government calculated that red tape costs it €17 billion (£11.4 billion) a year — more than its entire agricultural output — and that 56 per cent of it comes from Brussels.

The Dutch, who used to be unquestioning supporters of the EU, were particularly unhappy with EU safety legislation banning window cleaners from using ladders that are more than 10m high. Traditional Dutch houses require ladders of 12m, meaning that window cleaners have had to spend large amounts of money on new equipment. Other regulations set for the dustbin include rules on the number of beds in hospital wards; the amount of seating space that workers are entitled to; and the materials that can be used to make surfaces in playgrounds.

EU environmental protection laws, data protection regulation and food labelling laws could be simplified. The food industry has complained that labelling laws are contradictory and are changed too frequently. The Dutch Government will propose that food labelling requirements change at the most every three to five years.

The European Union is facing a crisis of confidence, with fewer than half its citizens now supporting it. In this week’s elections, Eurosceptic parties across the Continent are expected to enjoy a huge surge in support.

Even senior commissioners have declared that the European Commission is interfering too much. Chris Patten, the External Relations Commisioner, said that the EU must regain popular legitimacy by not making rules that could be done better at national level.

The British Government is resisting the Commission’s attempts to make the UK charge VAT on children’s clothes. The UK has insisted that since not charging VAT does not cause any problems, the Commission is simply harmonising for harmonisation’s sake.

RULES THEY COULD DO WITHOUT

• Limits to the length of ladders used by window cleaners
• Ban on the pricing of loose fruit and veg in imperial weights
• Banning party string aerosols on safety grounds
• Requirements that pigs must have straw or wood chips in their pens to stop them getting bored
• Limits to the number of beds in hospital wards
• Minimum seating space for employees
• Minimum VAT on children’s clothes

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