EU ban on olive oil jugs is 'pretty silly', says Danny Alexander The point I'm making is, silly rules are not the sole preserve of the European Union. We did them in local authorities, we've swept away many of those in central government too," he said. In fact, those decisions are made by ministers in the European Councils and elected MEPs in the European Parliament. The European Union is the largest single market in the world. Half a billion people, £11 trillion worth of economic activity, 3.5 million jobs dependent in this country on trade with Europe. I really believe that Britain cannot afford to be isolated from our members of the European Union; it's massively in our interest. Ukip, the eurosceptic party surging in opinion polls, has seized on the decision as an example of Brussels interfering in everyday life. One Ukip branch in Derbyshire is offering all new joiners a free bottle of olive oil in protest. Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, said Tories must stand up to Brussels. "Senior Tories last week branded their eurosceptic members as 'loonies'," he said. Quietly acquiescing to this olive oil ban is utter lunacy itself. If Owen Paterson [the Environment Secretary], a renowned Tory eurosceptic failed to oppose this ridiculous EU decision in Brussels there is no hope of the Tory government opposing anything of importance at the European Council. Many traditional European restaurants, particularly in the Mediterranean, use small glass jugs filled with green or gold coloured extra virgin olive oil. However, they will be banned from 1 January 2014 after an obscure Brussels committee decreed the must be outlawed for hygiene reasons. Under the rules, olive oil "presented at a restaurant table" must be in pre-packaged, factory bottles with a tamper-proof dispensing nozzle and labelling in line with EU industrial standards. Britain argued against the Europe-wide ban but was powerless to stop it being passed. A spokesman for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said Britain supports improved labelling but rejected the new rules for being "likely lead to unnecessary waste and place added burdens on businesses." However, he added: "We will continue to work with the catering industry to help them adapt to these changes."