I was being a little loose when I said "EU law". Ezra is quite right.
The EU Commission issued a "Directive" to all member states. In the case of the United Kingdom, this directive is sometimes implemented by means of an Act of Parliament and sometimes by means of a Statutory Instrument. A Statutory Instrument (SI) is defined in Wikipedia as "A Statutory Instrument (SI) is a form of delegated or secondary legislation in Great Britain which is governed by the Statutory Instruments Act 1946.[1] Most secondary legislation in Great Britain is made in the form of a statutory instrument." It is usual in the SI to state the Act of Parliament from which the minister derives his authority. Almost all (if not all) legislation on metrication in the UK has been made by means of statutory instruments by virtue of the authority granted to the minister under the Weights and Measures Act (1985). -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 05 January 2008 08:00 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:39991] RE: BBC News presents news about a new vehicle in metric only Of course, there is no such thing as an "EU law", is there? I was under the impression that the member states agree to implement identical laws and then each member state's legislature must approve and implement the law. Does anyone have any idea how this is carried out in the UK? Ezra -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: "Martin Vlietstra" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Under EU law, all new car models must undergo standard tests which include > acceleration, top speed, fuel consumption etc. It is surprising how many > UK car magazines quote the time taken to reach 62 mph (without further > explanation). > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf > Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: 05 January 2008 04:46 > To: U.S. Metric Association > Subject: [USMA:39989] BBC News presents news about a new vehicle in metric > only > > I came across the news video report below on the BBC News web site > (International Edition) that describes a French car that uses compressed air > to drive the engine: > > http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_7170000/newsid_71 > 71000?redirect=7171043.stm&news=1&nbwm=1&nbram=1&bbwm=1&bbram=1&asb=1 > > I presume that the fact that this is on the Int'l Edition explains why all > the info about the vehicle is in metric, including the top speed (since all > speed limits in the UK are still in Imperial only). > > Still, it was fun to see the metric (and to learn about the car!) > > Ezra >
