They say it's a democratic union and all 28 member states have an equal vote/veto. Yes they do on paper, but in practice the majority of EU nations have to do exactly what the French and Germans tell them to do.
The unelected rulers make the rules and plan. The 28 members get to rubber stamp and read around 20 lots of regulations and changes per day which is impossible as most of it is legalese.
What they ACTUALLY do, is try to take money from the richest 3 or 4 countries, and give it to the poorest ones. In true socialist centrally controlled style. They want a huge political centrally controlled socialist by its very nature project. A soviet style union that grows ever bigger absorbing more and more poorer and unsuitable countries. And the other thing it does is FORCE people to comply.
I have bought 4 different electric fan heaters lately and returned each. Why? Because of some new EU regulation that makes them COMPLY! Like the borg in star trek. This is supposed to sense things like an open door and shut off power. Well it senses my BEDROOM door and turns off. Also once temp is reached it switches off and stays that way till I freeze. Eventually 2 or 3 degrees late, it powers up at low power, to see if thats adequate. 30 mins later it ramps up power as the CENTIGRADE wasnt rising. Or it decides the door may be open and shuts down. If it does see temp rise, it eventually heats up at full power, overshoots the target by a couple of degrees, till I am sweating. Then it turns off again. For 30 mins or so till I am freezing. This is all supposed to save energy. Green nonsense. Its called LOT20
Lot 20 is a new Ecodesign legislation from the EU which affects electric space heating. This new legislation from the EU 2015/1188 is set to bring about the biggest shake up in electric space heating to-date.
From January 2018, all local space heaters manufactured for sale in the EU, which use electricity, gaseous or liquid fuels, will have to comply with a minimum efficiency standard under Lot 20 of the Energy Efficiency Directive. This includes electric radiators/panel heaters, electric and gas fires and electric underfloor heating.
The aim is to ensure that inefficient technologies are replaced with energy efficient products that aim to reduce the amount of energy used in our homes, thus helping to achieve our overall carbon reduction targets. This will be achieved by regulating the operation of local space heaters through the use of intelligent controls.
Manufacturers will be required to incorporate functions within their products, which may include temperature controls with day/week timers, presence detection, adaptive start control and distance control functions and open window detection, making products more sophisticated.
Heaters that fail to comply with the new legislation will not be able to be supplied or installed in EU member states, therefore, it is essential that all installers understand the implications of this new legislation.
This new legislation will mean that more energy efficient products will enter the market, operated via intelligent controls. The knock-on effect of this will mean that manufacturers of controllers and/or the components that make up these control systems will also need to increase the efficiency of their products.
The challenge for manufacturers of space heating products will be that the regulation also stipulates that these energy targets should be achieved without an increase in the purchasing and operating costs of the products.
The result of this garbage is SHIT HEATERS! And extra cost. Extra development budget. A barrier to trade entry unless you are a big manufacturer that can figure all that out, and a barrier to businesses selling into the EU. Protectionism.
So the stupid EU strikes again. Expect all electric heaters without this to dissapear soon. And more expensive USELESS ones to appear in place complete with tamper proof screws, and other measures meant to stop you fixing it...