21 Jul 2008
European Union abolishes the acre
As per an agreement reached last week in Brussels, it will be illegal after 2010 to measure and sell land using the English acre as a unit of measure. This act was meant to standardize the hectare as an EU measurement and streamline intra-EU dealings and trade.
However, the Brits aren’t too cheery about it.
Mark Francois, the Shadow Europe Minister said: “It is this kind of pointless interference into the nooks and crannies of our national life that frustrates people about the EU. Whether we use hectares or acres should be a matter for Britain to decide, not the EU.
“Once again this weak Labour Government has meekly given up yet another of Britain’s rights to Brussels. They need to think again and insist that we must keep our right to use our ancient traditional measure of land if we wish.”
A hectare is the equivalent of 2.471 acres; the acre, one of Britain’s most ancient units, measures 4,840 square yards.
Huuh…! The acre, the British symbol of pride lost to Brussels bureaucrats. Good bye, national sovereignty!
Julien Frisch
July 21st, 2008 at 3:55 pmpermalink
Good idea. We don’t want the EU to turn into another Babylon. Maybe the EU should also choose a common language for the EU headquarters and parliament. Presently the EU spends €1bn on language translation services. Already on an unofficial basis the common language between EU officials is English. So why don’t they make it official and save a considerable amount of money. If we want the EU to succeed we should also be willing to be less nationalistic and more practical.
Rick Morren
July 21st, 2008 at 11:36 pmpermalink