> the people on the receiving end of the regulations This sometimes does include the average citizen. In particular various ecodesign rules resulted in househ

> the people on the receiving end of the regulations This sometimes does include the average citizen. In particular various ecodesign rules resulted in household devices being forcibly replaced with versions perceived as inferior (whether justifiedly or not), and most washing machines will default to an EU mode that doesn't work well, takes exactly two hours and 59 minutes, but is more energy efficient. The EU also has serious problems with a lack of democratic oversight, sometimes leading to legislation that couldn't be passed on a lower level getting reintroduced through the EU "back door" on behalf of either governments or lobbyists. The parliament, for example, doesn't get to propose laws - only the commission does! And by being "far away" from the public eye, bad proposals can often get very far before civil society even realizes they exist. I still think even the legislative influence is a net positive, and the practical benefits of standardization and open borders are massive, but let's not pretend it's perfect and purely awesome for "the little guy".