The British government has already granted so much power to the unelected bureaucrats in Brussels that it is powerless to stop a new EU regulation which will strip away the British public’s 100-year-old right to refunds for faulty or unwanted goods.

The new EU directive, which is being made to “harmonise” the law in all member states, will only allow repairs or replacement of faulty goods — and will outlaw all retailers offering any sort of cash-back guarantee.

The new rules have been opposed by consumer groups, retailers and even the Department of Business. But in a dramatic example of the corroding and negative power of the EU mess, the regulation will become law in Britain if approved by a majority of other EU member states.

In effect this means that the British parliament has already lost the right to legislate on even simple matters such as this.

News reports quoted a string of senior consumer advocates expressing their opposition. Lola Bello, senior policy advocate for Consumer Focus, said: “Our right to return shoddy goods helps keep industry on its toes.

“It drives up product standards and is a cheap way of resolving disputes quickly. It is a vital element in our consumer protection regime and not one we’d be prepared to lose or see watered down.”

Sir Stuart Rose, chairman of high street store chain Marks & Spencer, said: “If something is likely to constrain consumer rights we would look very carefully at it.”

Lord Borrie, honorary vice-president of the Trading Standards Institute, was quoted as saying that the EU directive was an “unrealistic ambition.”

Even the liability of replacing or repairing high ticket items will be reduced from six years to two.

Mats Persson, research director of the think tank Open Europe, was quoted as saying that the EU directive “will sweep away the age-old right of Britons to get their money back for returned goods.

“This watering-down of British consumer rights laws represents a significant power grab by Brussels and British consumers will be rightly horrified that Europe wants to denude the UK’s national safeguards.

“Worse still, new EU rules mean the UK government cannot continue to offer British consumers extra safeguards if it wants to. British shoppers are getting short changed by Brussels,” Mr Persson said.

* This is the same EU to which Tory leader David Cameron is so committed that he is prepared to break all earlier promises to hold a referendum on the devolvement of power to the EU.