Our civil service don't seem to need an excuse to overcomplicate things. I know this is a sweeping generalisation but there are other examples out there apart from this one.
A classic example was veterinary inspections in abattoirs. In most of the EU, a vet had to be on call. Here, the vet had to be on the premises. Same EU regulation, different implementation. Most of our small abattoirs then went out of business.
