All those regulations are not EU initiatives per se but one or more EU country's initiative requesting Brussels to regulate this and that. Sometimes it's about protecting a name (so that no other can use it), sometimes it's about protecting the environment (like forcing ships to have a double hull), etc...Those regulations also exist in the USA (like those that emerged after the Exxon Valdez case.
Some of those decisions are trivial or widespread, sometimes they concern the rights of a few, sometimes health issues.
It's also the result of lots of judiciary battles. The precautionary principle is stretched to an enormous extend. It goes back to the tainted blood scandal in France in 1986.
It's all a matter of understanding the history behind decisions. Those who don't, tend to generalize.

Raoul