EU to repeal need for fire safety legislation in its member countries.

USA, Australia and Middle East may follow. European fire industry spokesman ..."We are shocked and saddened by this move."

The European Commission are pushing forward an opt-out for all its member countries, so that they no longer will be required to impose fire safety requirements for new and existing buildings. This follows the conclusions of a €12m funded project, assessing fire safety requirements throughout Europe. A major accountancy firm that was awarded the project, calculated that the average cost of fires is outweighed by the cost of expensive fire protection systems and fire safety requirements. It therefore concluded that, by removing the need to impose fire safety standards on new construction projects, or onto existing buildings, there will be a net saving.

The news was welcomed by some in the construction industry. Ms Lirpa Loof, CEO of construction giant Tonto said "This is great news. The cost of employing fire engineers, creating fire strategies, and installing fire protection systems is just too high. We would be better spending the money on giving bonuses to our staff, or upgrading our company cars. This will be good for the European economy."

A leader of the European fire industry, who was shocked to read this news, points out "Don't these euro bureaucrats realise that the sole reason for there being so few major fires is entirely due to the success of what we do. I almost wonder if this is an April Fools' joke!"

The EU understand that this decision will decimate the fire protection industry. In recognition of this, they will be offering grants so that those affected can retrain in another sector, such as security. They plan to introduce the bill by 1st April 2019.