It is indeed a farce, every time they give you a hoop to jump through they replace it with a brick wall!
I have had rows with the EU directly about this and can only see it as a job creation scheme with all types of scum ready to relieve you of any money. My solution? Just put 3 cag on fuel across Europe as an EU tax, this would pay for the frog huggers to have a new nylon carpet installed in Brussels...!
OB