Ten thousand EU laws' hit UK since 1998

Nearly ten thousand new EU laws have been imposed on Britain since 1998, new research has revealed.

A report by the TaxPayers' Alliance published today reveals a 9,415 net gain of EU laws over the last decade, with almost half the new laws coming between 2006 and 2007.

In 2007 alone, 3,010 EU laws became UK law.

"Between 70 and 75 per cent of our laws now come directly from Brussels," Nigel Farage, UKIP leader, told politics.co.uk.

"It's not democratic. We have our own parliament and they're only responsible for 25 per cent of our laws. You can't have a system where 75 per cent of the laws come directly in to our system without anyone realising what's going on."

Activists are calling for systemic change in the relationship between Westminster and the EU, with clauses in the European Union transparency bill forcing minister to declare to parliament when new laws are derived from EU laws.

Eurosceptics are also concerned at the low level of scrutiny EU legislation is subjected to in the UK.

"Both the legislative process which has created this regulatory tangle and Britain's relationship with the EU needs a serious rethink," said Ben Farrugia, a Policy Analyst at the TaxPayers' Alliance.