Many people complain about Europe's influence upon everyday life in the United Kingdom. All walks of life have had some changes made to them as a result of European legislation. The agricultural sector is no stranger to European legislation. It has been influenced for years through policies like CAP . More recently the Human Rights Act and the increasing rafts of legislation in employment law have dramatically changed the face of this country's legal system.

 

A piece of European legislation which has affected everyone is the National Minimum Wage and the Working Time Directive. Many businesses complained at the introduction of the minimum wage that their competitive edge would be lost leading to job losses. Of course agriculture has had for some time the Agricultural Wages Board which sets the Agricultural Wages Order. This was created well before the European led minimum wage existed in the UK. The need for such European led legislation had been recognised within agriculture well before any European legislation applied directly and the AWO is just one example. The Agricultural Wages Board set a new AWO commencing last July. Agriculture was one step ahead of European Legislation!

 

It is ironic that although the agricultural sector had realised the importance of setting the minimum wage for its employees, it is still dogged by the spectre of unscrupulous gang masters paying below the minimum wage and the AWO.

 

Some may also argue that this is inspired by the ever-increasing desire of the supermarkets and large multiples to drive the price of their suppliers down to the bare bone. Labour costs often significantly affect the bottom line of any business thereby directly influencing profitability. Legislation and Regulations can to some extent control the problem but the natural forces of supply and demand have never been and never will be completely tamed by legislation.