The EU isn't as bad as we think

For your viewing pleasure, a list of myths about EU regulations and the truth about them. Many people in the UK will have encountered these being put forward by the Mail and it's ilk. Worth reading before you bluster with indignation at the latest bit of EU trash.

EU couldn't make it up | World news | The Guardian

Myth: Carved horns to be banned

The 250 members of the Border Stick Dressers' Association are baffled as to why David Byrne, the EU commissioner for food safety, should now be proposing that all sheep's horns must be classified as "specified risk material" and incinerated. Sunday Telegraph

Fact: Removal of specified risk materials (SRMs) is the best protection against the transmission of BSE and this has been the European Commission's overriding concern. However, the use of carved horns poses no such health risk and is excluded from the commission's proposal.

Myth: Fish to be known by its latin name

Chippies could be forced to sell fish by their ancient Latin names - thanks to the craziest European ruling so far. If barmy Brussels bureaucrats get their way, baffled Brits will have to ask for hippoglossus hippoglossus instead of plain halibut. Takeaways, restaurants, fishmongers and supermarkets are all set to be BANNED from using names that have been around for centuries. The Sun

Fact: Claims that the EU is planning to ban the English names of fish and force retailers to replace them with Latin names on food packaging are untrue. The commission has proposed clearer labelling on the packaging of fish products to ensure consumers are properly informed about what they are buying. Labels would include the exact name of the fish, how it was produced and where it was caught.

Myth: Pets to be pressure cooked

Under the EU's animal waste directive it is legal to bury dead pets only after pressure cooking them at 130 degrees centigrade for half an hour. Sunday Telegraph

Fact: The animal waste directive, in force since 1992, merely stipulates that "high-risk" material - such as BSE-infected cows - be disposed of in an approved processing plant. There is nothing in the directive to prevent dead pets, which do not present a serious risk of spreading communicable diseases, being disposed of through burning or burial.

Myth: butchers cannot give a dog a bone

Dogs in mid-Wales have a bone to pick with officials after they ordered butchers not to give customers bones to take home for their pets. Ceredigion county council has written to shop owners about a new European Union directive restricting the supply of bones and trimmings, which have for years been regarded as a canine treat. BBC News Online

Fact: The EU animal byproducts regulation was adopted in 2002 to help ensure the safe and traceable disposal of animal parts not intended for human consumption, in order to reduce the risk of further agricultural crisis such as BSE and foot-and-mouth. It does not stop a butcher supplying bones to dog owners for their pets, provided the bone has not already been thrown away.

Myth: Pigs must be given toys

Farmers throughout the country have 90 days to put a toy in every pigsty or face up to three months in jail. The new ruling from Brussels, which is to become law in Britain next week, is to keep pigs happy and prevent them chewing each other. The Times

Fact: Under EU law pigs must be given "manipulable material" to fulfil an important behavioural need. Examples of such materials given under the directive are straw, hay, and compost - there is no requirement for pigs to be given toys!

Myth: the Euro makes you ill

Never mind the supposed constitutional problems involved in joining the euro - the coins themselves could be bad for your health. Eurosceptics would have you believe that the euro is a potentially fatal step towards a European superstate but according to new scientific research the single currency could be a hazard for human health too. Guardian Unlimited

Fact: Reports of allergies caused by the nickel used in the one- and two-euro coins made for a classic scare story, particularly in the final days before the introduction of the new currency. However the use of nickel in coins is not a recent development. Apart from the one- and two-pence pieces, all UK coins currently in circulation contain nickel. All 12 euro-zone members had coins that contained the same level of nickel as the one- and two-euro coins.

Myth: Businesses must consult workers on choice of tea

New European rules under the information and consultation directive could force British firms to consult their workers on which brand of tea bags should be used in offices, the Conservatives claim. Business leaders attacked the move. Western Mail and Daily Post

Fact: The directive states that employees' representatives should be informed and consulted on the company's activities and economic situation, the situation and future trends in employment and on decisions likely to lead to substantial changes in work organisation or in contractual relations. This does not extend to having to consult workers on what tea they drink.

Myth: Kilts are womenswear

Eurocrats have ruled that the kilt is "womenswear". Spaniard Pedro Solbes, an EU commissioner, insists our national dress should be listed as a skirt on official forms. And kiltmakers could be fined up to £1,000 if they don't comply. Daily Record

Fact: A questionnaire was apparently sent to manufacturers that requested that kilts be listed as "women's apparel". However it was not sent by Eurostat, the EU's statistical branch, but by the UK Office of National Statistics.

Myth: Brussels threatens charity shops and car boot sales

Charity shops, jumble sales and car boot sales are threatened by EU plans for a crackdown on product safety, Tories claimed last night. A proposed Brussels directive requiring retailers to provide for the full "traceability" of the goods they sell may leave traders liable under community law when potentially dangerous products change hands, they warned. Daily Mail

Fact: The legislation concerned, the general product safety directive, has been in force since 1992 and has not affected the areas mentioned.

Myth: Bananas must be straight

EU regulations mean the end of bendy bananas, curved cucumbers and chunky carrots. Greengrocers must conform to the myriad of rules covering size, length, colour and texture of fruit and vegetables. The Times

Fact: Bananas are classified according to quality and size for international trade. Individual governments and the industry have in the past had their own standards with the latter's, in particular, being very stringent. The European Commission was asked by national agriculture ministers and the industry to draft legislation in this area. Cucumbers do not have to be straight. There are grading rules, which were called for by representatives from the industry to enable buyers in one country to know what quality and quantity they would get when purchasing a box, unseen, from another country. Nothing is banned under these rules.

 

These things do not interest me as they hold no weight, there are far more important issues that concern me about there long term goals.


The Guardian is a wet liberal newspaper which is only fit to wrap your fish & chips up in.

 

Hmmm no factual denial of corruption, failed audits nor the EU's undemocratic activities. I'll stick with the idea that the EU is much worse than anyone realises.

cheers,

 

Sorry, you are missing my point, most of these bloody articles that have people blustering over their morning coffee about the EU straightening fruit and so on are nonsense, a device of the media to sell more papers. Whatever the real issues may be (and they are there) these are not they. If anything they are simply handy distractions from wider problems.

 

I was hoping that downgrading Christmas would be on the list of myths.

 

Well said Stephan and some humor too!

 

What, downgrading Christmas to Xmas?

 

Don't worry Za I will request that the EU imposes proper English

 

That one is a myth as well, Christmas is not having it's name changed. the nonsense about christmas parties being cancelled is just that, you can still hang Christmas cards. I was reading the other day that the number of office Christmas parties have (if anything) gone up in recent years, as have sales of cards, presents and decorations. All this stuff about PC'ness is just another 5 seconds of fury over the breakfast table which everyone loves to have. As David Mitchell put it, 'you don't take an active interest in the running of your country for just 45 years and look what happens..."

 

Well I say the sooner we unite the better. It's far from perfect but it's the best we have.

 

(Breathes a huge sigh of relief)

 

Stefan,
point now taken, did mistake your motive for apologism. Do think these stories are to infantilise opposition to "Fortress Europa".

cheers,

 

Actually I think most opposition to 'fortress europa' is fairly infantile. Of course there are legitimate objections to the EU and the way things are heading at the moment, there are also a lot of possibilities for advancement to be found. The tragic thing is that over here people get so bogged down in bluff and bluster about the 'latest nonsense from Brussels' that they totally ignore the serious issues. It's a shame that we are so often the victims of media propaganda against Europe (that appeals beautifully to standard British xenophobia) that most people ignore the real issues.

I wonder how many people actually take the time to read the odd EU law or proposal rather than simply taking the Daily Hate's word for it?

And sorry to say it but I'd rather be part of a united Europe than a lapdog to the US, for one thing it's safer!

 

More to the point Stefan, how many MEP's do?

Laws are being passed so fast they are just being rubber stamped, what this means is the MEP's read a few lines of each proposal and not the full text of what they are voting on.

The EU is very good a waving the big stick at everyone but for the last 14 years not one accountant has sign of the EU books and why? There figures don't add up, no wonder no one wants to sign off there books.

 

Well, there are at least a couple of MEP's who do, there was a fantastic debate between an MEP and a muppet from UKIP who kept insisting that there were loads of problems with some recent piece of legislation, the MEP was arguing in favour of it and was the only person in the room who had read it.

I agree though, surely this is a problem with politics in general? We seem to have a generation of MP's etc who feel qualified to talk about papers and legislation they have not read and don't seem to understand.

 

Slight side note about our MP's & voters have come to what we have now, a party becomes a government on a minority vote. Most voters no longer vote because they feel Westminster is out of touch with people today and as for our MP's they don't really care if the turn out is low.

I feel politics is stagnating in this country and needs a good kick up the ass, time has come to get the broom out and sweep the yard clean for the better.

 

Personally I think it has more to do with the half-wit electorate. If people had a basic understanding of our system they would come to realise that you are not voting for a government but for local representatives, you decide who you want to represent you in Westminster. Maybe once people start to appreciate that and stop voting for whatever monkey is leading their particular party we will see our system start to work again, break away from presidential style government and get back to something worth having.

Then again, since we have a culture that revels in mediocrity and detests any kind of excellence denouncing it as elitist and unfair, I don't see that happening. Take the house of lords, undemocratic? Yeah, but then again I'd rather have a group of well educated, generally quite intelligent individuals who have a good understanding of the way the system works acting as a check to whatever party we put in government than a group of pandering cronies of whichever group of muppets we have voted in. Not that it's the best way of doing things but it's better than what we have now!

 

Well that's par for the course from EU supporters of course. We could just put it to the vote of course, but that's an outdated function as far as the EU is concerned, one could be mistaken into thinking they're worried they'd lose.

I'd rather be a part of the UK, and totally independent.

A united Europe is only safer because it sits on it's hands when it needs to rally to action. There was plenty of talk from the EU when the former Yugoslavia went t*ts up. It was the Brits and the Yanks who actually did something.

I believe our greatest strength remains the Commonwealth, which most Euro states are so envious of they're happy to force us into dismantling our relationships with it.

 

Of course, much better to sit here and dream of a time when we were a world power whilst we become more and more of a nonentity.

Incidentally, you'll note I referred to most opposition to the EU, of course there are legitimate objections it is just unfortunate that most of the objections people come up with are based on a mixture of ignorance and xenophobia.

As for the commonwealth, it would be really handy if it included a couple more first world nations. Just another symptom of us clinging on to this idea that we are a world power. Of course we aren't, but I think most people are two wrapped up in some sort of stupid hatred of the French and Germans to realise it.

Incidentally you may want to talk to the Germans and French, not to mention the other 48 nations who took part in IFOR about the Balkans (the French led one of the multinational divisions incidentally). You could talk to the 32 nations (not including the UK and US) who contributed to KFOR as well (in case you missed it, the Germans and French, even the Italians have more troops there than we do at the moment, not that we didn't make the biggest contribution initially but worth remembering if you are going to start throwing accusations about).

 

Stefan,

just a final word, your like me 20 years ago believing there is hope & light at the end of the tunnel. Give it 20 years Stefan and your be like me today.

PS: I suspect I've be waving my stick and telling kids to get off the lawn in 20 years time.