The Wall Street Journal Europe’s excellent Kyle Wingfield gave a speech this morning in Brussels to International Leaders Summit, organised by Croatia’s Adriatic Institute. He was upbeat on Europe’s tax situation, saying that the trend line for the EU is going in the right direction. There may, he said, be some worrying specifics, for example with rhetoric surrounding the taxation of hedge funds, but overall things the direction is good.

Instead, he said, the worrying issue is actually regulation. Unlike in Las Vegas, it’s not true that what’s made here in Brussels stays here. EU regulation radiates throughout the world. Brussels regulation is particularly problematic, he explained, because it tends to protect the big incumbents, while hurting small businesses. He said that the much-criticised REACH chemicals directive was made better for large companies because they could afford significant lobbying operations, but small companies did not have such resources to put their case as effectively. He also explained that the despite the services directive, there are still regulations in member states that block off trade across EU borders and that is bad for business.