"There's something called a mutual recognition principle," Defra explains.
Ms Lagarde called for regulators worldwide to agree a framework to wind down big banks in trouble, as well as mutual recognition on rules for financial markets.
As the draftsman of the opinion of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy on the report presented by Mr Stubb, in my contribution I will deal with a group of roughly 25% of products, which are subject to the so-called principle of mutual recognition of technical rules among the Member States.
In the new approach based on the Council resolution of 7 May 1985 (confirmed in the Council resolution of 21 December 1989 and Council Decision 93/465/EEC), the guiding principle is the mutual recognition of national rules.
However Mr De Rynck said that since the global crash of 2008 the EU had been moving away from a system of "mutual recognition" of member states' rules to more centralised regulation.
Mutual recognition of national product rules means that a company anywhere in the EU can sell to 100m households, a market larger than America's.
It is indeed the case that the rules on mutual recognition apply to 21% of all European industrial production, which is truly a sizeable volume.
"A general application of the rule of mutual recognition of civil status documents will result in a situation where the political and social choices of some member states would be imposed on all the others," CARE for Europe, a Christian lobby group, argued in its submission to the commission, echoing numerous opponents.
Trying to establish rules on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications in Europe has proved a major headache.
To make this mobility possible, further provisions were adopted, such as rules for the mutual recognition of diplomas, guarantees regarding medical treatment when abroad and safeguards regarding already acquired pension rights.
