The British Economy is something of a blame game, it seems...
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EU and broadband
SIR - Your interview with Maria Miller, Culture Secretary (Technology, November 22) implied a slow approval procedure by the European Commission with regard to the Broadband UK scheme.
The scheme was notified to the Commission in January 2012, to check compliance with EU state aid rules. We asked the UK authorities for the information needed to carry out our assessment in February 2012.
Only after seven months did we receive a complete response from the UK, and only then could we complete our analysis. The final decision was taken on November 20.
Although I did meet Maria Miller, on November 8, at her request, we started our internal adoption procedure well before this and the decision was taken on the date initially foreseen.
Politicians should avoid red tape, but in this case Brussels bureaucrats worked faster than their London colleagues.
Joaquín Almunia
Vice President, European Commission
Brussels, Belgium "
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/letters/9728059/The-Chancellor-is-cleaning-up-after-13-years-of-wasteful-Labour-spending.html