Black mark for red-tape Britain

EUROPEAN companies see Britain as the most difficult country in the European Union to trade with, an EU report said. Despite attempts by successive British Governments to cut red tape across the commercial sector, the report found European firms are still put off by the burden of bureaucracy in the British market.

'While the UK, Italy and France were found to be among the most important markets, it is disturbing to find that they were also perceived to be the most difficult to trade with,' the Commission said.

'It is particularly surprising that the widely reported efforts in the UK and Italy to simplify national rules have apparently not yet been felt by companies trading with them.'

Britain comes bottom of the table, closely followed by Italy and France. European businesses said Finland was by far the easiest country to trade with.

Britain is also lagging in putting into force EU laws aimed at improving the single market. Of EC directives that should have been drafted into the UK statute books last year, 15% are still outstanding, a record surpassed only by Germany's 16%.

To catch up, Britain would have to transpose 66 EC directives into national law by spring next year, which officials say is daunting and unrealistic.