20-12-2007
Businesses questioned on EU Treaty
News by Adfero for Simply Business - independent providers of business insurance, business finance, landlord insurance, buy-to-let mortgages & commercial mortgages.
Member firms of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) are being polled by the organisation on whether or not there should be a referendum on the new EU Treaty, which was signed last week.
According to the FSB, the new developments could mean that businesses will face more complex employment laws. Regulation of this kind often involves matters of employer liability.
The poll comes after prime minister Gordon Brown and foreign secretary David Miliband signed the new treaty in Lisbon, Portugal, on December 13th.
John Walker, FSB policy chairman, said: "We are aware that the UK has secured a written guarantee that the [Charter of Fundamental Rights] cannot be used by the European Court of Justice to alter UK employment laws.
"But there are legal experts who say that this written guarantee may not be effective and that small businesses could face further complexity in employment laws."
The FSB hopes to represent the views of its members to the government when the results are in.