At the EBU Laws and Ethics Committee meeting in May it was agreed to introduce a new schedule of standard procedural and disciplinary penalties that should be applied by Tournament Directors at EBU events from 01 August 2012, meaning that the Brighton Summer Meeting was the first opportunity to use the new schedule. The main objective is to ensure consistency so that, for example, we don't get one player getting a warning for an offence with another in the same tournament getting a 1vp penalty for the same sin.
Some clubs may be interested in using the schedule. Clubs may adopt as much or as little as they feel appropriate. When it comes to things like this all clubs must obey anything in the Laws of Bridge but whether regulations such as these are used or used in part is up to the clubs themselves.
The schedule has been incorporated into the 2012 edition of the White Book(Page 148) and is available as a download from the website . It has been highlighted in the August edition of English Bridge (see the article by Frances Hinden on page 30 of the August 2012 issue).
You can find the minutes of the Laws and Ethics Committee for the relevant meeting by clicking here.
The schedule of standard penalties can be found in section 148 of the White Book.