They had existed before 1994 for UK central government planning purposes. Current plans for regions and regional assemblies form part of the present administration's policies and have nothing to do with any imagined EU agenda. The Commission claims that the delay was caused by the election, but in fact it was blocked by the Conservative government. The decision was taken by the Representation of the European Commission in the UK, because of the proximity of the launch to the election, following discussions with all the main political parties, not just the then government. After a battle with Brussels, Consumer Affairs Minister Nigel Griffiths announced yesterday that he had succeeded in preventing the European Commission from outlawing the fixing of set weights and sizes of bread.
Rules exist to ensure that the unit price of bread is indicated, regardless of weight.
Directives on indication of prices do not prescribe any particular weight of loaf and specifically confirm that Member States can continue to use traditional bread sizes. It is difficult to see how this has been interpreted as a threat to the British loaf.