The mere mention of Europe may send business owners running but it is not an issue they should turn their backs on, according to a leading expert.

Martin Manuzi, of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, said: "Like it or loathe it, nobody can afford to ignore it.

"Brussels initiates around half of all new legislation in the UK and 70 per cent of this directly affects business."

He warned if people focus only on the the EU's negative aspects, they are in danger of overlooking the important steps which are being taken to create a genuinely European market for goods and services.

He said: "Never mind what the brochures say, a common market simply does not exist.

"The launch of the euro and the easy comparability of prices which this will produce across the greater part of Europe will certainly put this fact into a new and clearer perspective.

"There has been a slowdown in implementation of EU directives and a growing gap between member states which implement and those which do not."

Mr Manuzi was blunt in naming the culprits.

He said well over a third of the delays were down to Greece, Portugal, Luxembourg and, most notably, France.

"All this presents the European Commission with a formidable challenge, even before it embarks on the task of simplify existing regulations and creating a new legislative framework for the high-tech business of the 21st Century."