More on the European Union treaties and laws

Below are some of the clauses in European Treaties and other declarations which the UK Government is a signatory to, but which both European and UK Civil Servants and their advisory committees chose to ignore. This is not just about practitioner regulation, but also the availability to the public of Herbal remedies.

The EU is heavily influenced by big business and allowing multi national pharmaceutical giants to function more profitably via the buzzword "Harmonisation". That buzzword simply means standardising everything in every country. Of course certain countries such as the French ignore many EU directives, because they cherish their traditions.

Common provisions among the European Union.

Article F
1. The Union shall respect the national identities of its Member States, whose systems of government are founded on the principles of democracy.

2. The Union shall respect fundamental rights, as guaranteed by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms signed in Rome on 4 November 1950 and as they result from the constitutional traditions common to the Member States, as general principles of Community law.

In the UK, a fundamental freedom has been the ability of anyone to utilise whatever health care regime they choose.

The EU has already caused our MHRA to place severe restrictions on the availability of so called 'natural medicines' in the UK. This has resulted in our traditional freedoms to utilise Herbal medicine being significantly eroded. It also removes some of our existing constitutional rights without any debate in our Parliament.


Treaty of Rome Rome, 25 March, 1957

Preamble:
"Affirming as the essential objective of their efforts the constant improvement of the living and working conditions of their peoples,....."
Anything that can put people out of work, is an infringement of this fundamental principle. The past and current regulations on Traditional medicines, pose a major threat to the volume of work, and sales, of Herbalists and Herbal products suppliers.
"Recognising that the removal of existing obstacles calls for concerted action in order to guarantee steady expansion, balanced trade and fair competition,"
By requiring license fees for 'natural medicines' this promotes unfair trading practises because then only large companies can afford the licensing procedures.

Article 6.
"3. This Article shall not prevent any Member State from maintaining or adopting measures providing for specific advantages in order to make it easier for women to pursue a vocational activity or to prevent or compensate for disadvantages in their professional careers."
If Herbalists will be unable to obtain their herbs from UK suppliers because they are not "registered", those Herbalists will face difficulties obtaining their stocks and could be forced out of work. A large number of Herbalists are women. Therefore attempts to suppress the availability of their working materials are contrary to the treaty of Rome. The later part of the clause could even allow woman to make claims for compensation from the UK Government due to imposed restrictions on how they may work.

Article 3.
"For the purposes set out in Article 2, the activities of the Community shall include, as provided by this Treaty and in accordance with the timetable set out therein:

(o) a contribution to the attainment of a high level of health protection;

(p) a contribution to education and training of quality and to the flowering of the cultures of the Member States;...."
In the UK, freedom of health care provision is part of our 'cultural' identity. Therefore any activity that threatens that is suppressing not supporting the "flowering of the cultures".

Article 39. 1.
"The objectives of the common agricultural policy shall be:

(b) thus to ensure a fair standard of living for the agricultural community, in particular by increasing the individual earnings of persons engaged in agriculture;....."
Since many small organic growers supply goods to the herbal suppliers and essential oils markets, if the medicines control restrictions damage that market, then the objectives of the above clause are not met and the opposite will occur.
"(e) to ensure that supplies reach consumers at reasonable prices."
If natural medicines are forced from the open market and into the hands of pharmaceutical interests, then prices will inevitably INCREASE.

TITLE V. COMMON RULES ON COMPETITION, TAXATION AND
APPROXIMATION OF LAWS


CHAPTER 1. RULES ON COMPETITION

Section 1. Rules Applying to Undertakings

Article 85. 1.
"The following shall be prohibited as incompatible with the common market; all agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings and concerted practices which may affect trade between Member States and which have as their object or effect the prevention restriction or distortion of competition within the common market, and in particular those which:..."

"(a) directly or indirectly fix purchase or selling prices or any other trading conditions;"

"(c) share markets or sources of supply;"
This clause could be construed to cover the situation where one country institutes and enforces regulations on herbal products and another country does not. It is a fact that not all countries in the EU enforce EC regulations over traditional medicines. For example, a search of the Internet, will find Continental herb and essential oil suppliers making illegal medicinal claims yet nothing is done. That is a clear distortion of inter country competitive trade.

Article 86.
"Any abuse by one or more undertakings of a dominant position within the common market or in a substantial part of it shall be prohibited as incompatible with the common market in so far as it may affect trade between Member States. Such abuse may, in particular,consist in:

(a) directly or indirectly imposing unfair purchase or selling prices or unfair trading conditions;

(b) limiting production, markets or technical development to the prejudice of consumers;

(c) applying dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions with other trading parties, thereby placing them at a competitive disadvantage;"
Clause b is important because as in article 85.1 above, the proposed and existing regulations on herbal products effectively limit production specifically within the UK and not in some other countries. The proposals on Statutory regulation of practitioners in the UK also limits consumer choice.

TITLE IX. CULTURE

Article 128. 1.
"The Community shall contribute to the flowering of the cultures of the Member States, while respecting their national and regional diversity and at the same time bringing the common cultural heritage to the fore."
Almost all of the restrictions on the herbs which UK traditional practitioners may use, fly in the face of the above. In addition, the proposed regulations do nothing but destroy an Ancient cultural heritage of freedom of choice over health care.

Another major objective of the treaty is the improvement of agriculture and the standards of living and health in underdeveloped area of the community as well as in third world countries. The plants that are used as herbal medicines and for essential oil production frequently originate in deprived rural locations in France, Italy, Spain and Greece. Therefore any laws that can damage the traditional markets for these products will be contrary to the stated objects in the Treat Of Rome. In addition, it will require extra funds from the community to support the people whose livelihoods these new laws are damaging.

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