EUROMYTHS.

Euromyths wrongly attributed to the EU, or refuted by the CEC, include the following:

•  Another small but significant chunk of Britain's beleaguered manufacturing  industry seems set to shut down next year when the Environment Agency  imposes its own hugely costly version of a European Union pollution  directive on several hundred firms involved in the process of metal  finishing or electro-plating. Irving Struel, for example, employs 35 people  near Cardiff providing metal coatings for a wide range of industries, from  aerospace to computers. Now, thanks to the agency's over-the-top  interpretation of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC)  directive, he plans to close his business. Industry sources confirm that  scores of other firms are likely to follow suit. The fate of our electro-plating industry provides another shocking example  of what, appropriately in this case, is known as "gold- plating", whereby  British officials add their own requirements to EU directives, making their  impact on British industry very much more damaging than Brussels intended. (Sunday Telegraph ( 30-03-03 ) This turned out not to be completely true, the regulation excludes the smallest firms - Ed
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• 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. A portion of cod would be gadus morhua and haddock would be replaced by melanogrammus aeglefinus. Takeaways, restaurants, fishmongers and supermarkets are all set to be BANNED from using names that have been around for centuries. The proposal - which could be law by January - would refer to more than 100 species. Folk will be faced with tongue twisting menus listing fish such as pleuronectes platessa (plaice), solea solea (Dover sole), dicentrachus labrax (bass) and pollachius virens (coley). Tasty ... but what's it called? Ministers and food industry bosses vowed to fight the idea. A Government official said: "We see this as unacceptable. It has no benefit whatsoever." And the Food Standards Agency said: "Consumers' interests will not be served by labelling fish in a dead language." Euro chiefs claimed the change would make shopping EASIER across the EU because everyone would know fish by the same names. They even aim to outlaw mentions of where catches were made. Fish netted in the English Channel, the Irish Sea or the North of Scotland would have to be sold as being from the North East Atlantic. The regulations will be discussed by the European Commission Fisheries Management Committee next Tuesday. A majority vote by the 15 EU member states would make them law. Geoffrey Malloy, of the UK Association of Frozen Fish Producers, said: "This is the sort of thing that gets the EU a bad name - and rightly so." (The Sun, 05 September, 2001) The CEC deny this is to be law but said the EC "would look at introducing another measure."
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• STORES are stocking MOTHER Christmas outfits — to avoid being taken to court. Woolworths bosses are putting the sexy £9.99 costumes, trimmed with fake white fur, into 800 stores after a sex discrimination ruling from Brussels. According to clause 3.5 of the EU’s Gender legislation, the "elimination of existing cultural prejudices and social stereotypes is paramount for the establishment of gender equality." Woolies reckon this means that products which reinforce gender stereotypes or are seen as derogatory to one sex cannot be sold. Nicole Lander, from Woolworths, said: "As a UK retailer, we have to abide by EU regulations. "We do want to present a fair portrayal of gender in our stores and will do our best to meet requirements." Last night, Tony Askham, a legal expert in European issues, said: "It’s taking the legislation to extremes but it’s the sort of problem that retailers are finding hidden away in equality laws." A rattled EU spokeswoman tried to backtrack over the ruling last night. (The Sun 24/10/01)
• GROWING concern has led to calls for action among dealers in Kent faced with a new law which makes it a criminal offence not to register and keep detailed records when buying and selling secondhand goods in the county. The Kent and Medway Bills passed into law, with Royal Assent being given on Tuesday, April 10. Categories of goods requiring records to be kept by registered dealers when purchasing articles: Categories of goods which must always be recorded: Electrically or battery-powered goods or any medium on which sound images or other data may be stored or recorded and which is intended for use with any such goods. Categories of goods which must be recorded if, in the reasonable opinion of the dealer at the time of the transaction, they are to be sold or offered for sale for any more than £10: Vehicle parts, jewellery, watches, photographic equipment, sports equipment, equestrian equipment, boating equipment, musical equipment, tools, bicycles, optical equipment, firearms and gardening equipment. Categories of goods which must be recorded if, in the reasonable opinion of the dealer at the time of the transaction, they are to be sold or offered for sale for more than £50: All goods not previously mentioned. Categories of goods requiring records to be kept by registered dealers when selling articles: Categories of goods to be recorded when sold for £100 or more: Electrically or battery powered goods, vehicle and vehicle parts, plant, jewellery, watches, photographic equipment sports equipment, equestrian equipment, building materials, boats and boating equipment, musical instruments, gardening equipment. Categories of goods to be recorded when sold for £500 or more: All goods not previously mentioned. Crucially, the measures will put Kent dealers at a distinct disadvantage compared with members of the trade from outside the county. Another major area of the trade likely to be hit is the house clearance, where dealers buying possibly thousands of items in a single sale would be obliged under the law to record each one separately. (Antique Trades Gazette 8/8/01) 
• You may not have heard of it yet, but after this election you probably will. Its called the GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services) and it's something our Government is ready to sign us up to. It could potentially allow the privatisation of all of our public services. You may have thought that Labour or the Lib Dems will be able to 'protect' state education and the NHS from privatisation, well, these sectors are already being offered up by this government as public service areas to be part of an intergovernmental sign-up by the World Trade Organation (WTO) with the aim of getting all public service areas opened to the GATS. Once we've signed up, it will mean that the WTO disputes panel will decide whether a service sector can remain exempt from GATS "disciplines": it is likely that it will mean that the state will not be able to provide 'free' or subsidised delivery of services as this will be considered unfair competition to international companies (multinationals) who want to get access to these profitable business areas. In the meantime, this Government will continue to increase privatisation by 'stealth' through the use of the Private Finance Initiative and the Private Public Partnerships approach, but once we've signed up to GATS they will be able to finally lose control and regulation of our national public services. (Bath Chronicle 04/06/01)
• Plans to impose speed-limiters to motorcycles are likely to be scrapped following a report presented to the European Commission for Europe by the German government, at a UN meeting.  The ECE has global responsibility  for the harmonization of vehicle regulations. Research is underway on three types of remote speed control systems for cars and motorcycles. All use on-board computer and global positioning systems to communicate with a satellite and pinpoint the vehicle's exact position. Digital maps are programmed with speed limits. One version advised a driver when he is speeding. A second slows the vehicle by cutting the fuel supply and applying the brakes. It can be switched off, but the third system cannot. The latter is considered a serious threat to safety. The ECE is divided on the matter with powerful safety lobbyists in favour of speed-limiters. Our Department of the Environment is in favour too. Britain is the only country where research is done on bikes, at Leeds University. (Motorcycle News 16/5/01)
• The campaign to stop the European Patent Office trying to legalise software patents has scored its first major victory. After some effective lobbying in several countries and despite Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein deciding not to vote, all the other countries voted to keep Article 52C (which bans software patents) in the European Patent Convention. This now clears the way for the consultation called by the European Commission, which has a deadline of 15 December, and the UK Patent Office's own consultation. An issue that need to be resolved is the problem of the EPO having illegally issued some 13,000 software patents. It would seem that the only way to deal with this would be for new law to bring the EPO into the EU and simultaneously correct this defiance of the European Patent Convention. This is not so fanciful, since the German federal secretary of justice, Herta-Däubler-Gmelin, indicated in Der Spiegel last month that if necessary the EPO could collapse and the EU could develop its own patents policy. (The Register 22/11/00 http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/14933.html)
• Britain in Europe, the EU funded (European Movement) propaganda organisation has issued a report attempting to refute a few of the so-called Euromyths. While there are certainly many such myths, Britain in Europe could not resist also publishing a whole raft of lies and half-truths. One of the worst errors is deliberately to confuse opposition to the corrupt and undemocratic EU Superstate with a love of Europe and all its nations. The report is called "Straight Bananas" and is obtainable from their web site: http://www.britainineurope.org.uk/publications/bananas.PDF
• Learner drivers who pass their test could face a five-year wait for a full licence under a Brussels plan revealed yesterday…The EU wants to cut the 45,000 road deaths a year in Europe…(Daily Mail, 5 November 1999) The CEC say this is based on an expert committee's recommendations for a probationary period, not the Commission (CEC Press Release 13/4/00)
• The EU threatens Italian pizza. The threat to the nation's native dish comes from a Directive that aims to ban old-fashioned wood-burning ovens of the kind many pizzerias and breadmakers in Italy use. It says they fail to comply with new cooking appliance standards. The wood ovens reach 450C, needed for the pizza to remain soft in the centre and crisp on the sides. Electric ovens demanded by the Directive only reach 300-350C. (D Telegraph 15/12/99) Denied by the CEC 13/4/00.
• The "European Standardisation Committee" is proposing to set a standard of 500mm width for all theatre seats. Many London theatres will fall below the standard and are afraid they may have to re-equip. This is so far just a proposal. (BBC R4 You & Yours 22/2/00) There is NO European directive making such a demand - if there were, it would not be retroactive. There are NO European Standards for theatre seats. We are working on ergonomic and stability RECOMMENDATIONS for domestic, office and garden furniture and I suspect somebody has picked up some recommended dimensions from this source. Stewart Sanson - Public Relations Corporate CEN - European Committee for Standardization Rue de Stassart 36, B-1050 Brussels
• Following the adoption of the European Convention on Human Rights, originated by the Council of Europe, drivers will not have to admit to driving their cars when caught in speed cameras. Suspects are exempt from incriminating themselves. (BBC R4 8/2/00)
• A drug trafficker, Sultan Khan, is appealing against his conviction on the ground that the police used listening devices to gather evidence against him. Such practices, his appeal will argue, contravene the Human Rights Act. (The Times February 7 2000 OPINION)
• By incorporating the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law, the government has had to sign a protocol to the convention banning capital punishment. This is attributable to the Council of Europe, not the EU.
• Before the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into the British constitution, in matters of law, parliament was supreme. Judges' role was to interpret the wishes of parliament. Now they have a code to follow and if they decide that parliament was wrong to pass a law because it contravenes the code then the judges have the power to strike out the law, even though the law represented the will of the people. (BBC R4 Unreliable Evidence 7/3/00)
• Every one should have a tax identification number (TIN) which would be mandatory internationally. A TIN would be required to open a bank account and the information would be freely exchangeable internationally. This is an OECD proposal. (European 14/20/98)
• Someone from the audience asked why the government had given so much time to lowering the gay age of consent, and neglected to debate the freedom of information act. The answer Nick Brown Minister of Agriculture gave was that the European Court had decided we must lower it. (BBC 1 TV Question Time 26/11/98) This relates to the European Court of Human Rights.
• New EU VAT rules threaten commodity trading in the UK. Goods traded in different countries do not involve VAT payment so long as they cross a national boundary. Goods traded on a commodity exchange change hands many times before physical delivery takes place which means each sale is liable to different or multiple VAT levies. (FT 28/1/94).VAT is only charged on the dealer's commission.
• It is forbidden to blend red and white wines to make a rose wine. The only way to do it is to create a pink wine then blend that with a red wine. (BBC 2 Food & Drink Programme January 1994).-Blended red and white wine is certainly not rose wine at all. The winemaking techniques for making rose wine are quite different from those of making red or white wine(Andrew Rose BBC researcher 16/4/99)
• MEPs have been told to shower more often because problems have emerged with the showers installed in the new Parliament building. They leak if underused. (E Voice 22/10/98) Denied by Press Adviser to President of European Parliament.
• Staff working for the EC have their own duty-free shop". Goods in the staff shop are not duty-free, Belgian taxes are paid. Goods are offered at a discount though. .( This privilege is to be restricted (BBC R4 News 29/9/99)
• If you build a new house or public building you aren't allowed a doorstep so as to allow disabled access. It is part of the UK Building Regulations due to take effect in 1999.
• In order to enable a vet to prescribe or dispense medicines for farm stock a vet has to prove that the animals are "under his care". This means that the vet must visit the farm every six months to ensure they have a working knowledge of the stock management system. (Vet bulletin for farmers Jan 1995). This is a UK rule.
• An article in the Daily Telegraph, 6/10/98, reported how an electrician refused to install a washing machine in a bathroom because of EC regulations. This regulation has been part of UK building regulations for 50 years (D Telegraph 8/10/98)
• The Commission argues that criminals would simply use illegal encryption software if legislation were introduced. (European Voice 25/6/98). Commissioner Bangeman says it was an illusion to think that the free availability and use of encryption technology could be stopped. Rather, international co-operation on justice and home affairs was called for. The idea of self-regulation was now better established. (The Week in Europe 15/10/98). EC views on encryption are commendably libertarian and are at variance with authoritarian policies in many member states, however the EC seems to be facing both ways on encryption policy, see Commerce on the subject of Certification Service Providers - Ed Police forces are calling for the right to tap encrypted messages on the Internet. They want access to the electronic keys for such software. The British Home Secretary, Jack Straw, is sympathetic. It is opposed by trading companies who are alarmed that large numbers of people will not begin shopping on the Internet unless they are sure their messages cannot be intercepted. It is also an attack on personal privacy. The Labour Party web site has had the previous policy statement removed. It said, "attempts to control the use of encryption technology are wrong in principle, unworkable and damaging to the long-term value of information networks". Labour has since introduced the Electronic Commerce Bill to control computer encryption. Government agencies will be able to eavesdrop on encrypted communications. (D Telegraph 25/11/98). A Department of Trade White Paper on export controls threatens the extinction of the world-leader UK cryptography industry. Exports are regarded as munitions and include CD-ROMs, the spoken word and e-mail. The proposals will prevent British academics and companies from working with foreign colleagues. The proposal will affect the Microsoft Research Lab and students funded by Intel to develop software for tracing copyrighted documents. (Connected Telegraph 16/7/98) EU governments are creating their own laws against individual privacy. Spain enacted the Telecommunications Law 1998 that allows the use of encryption provided the government has the key to read what it wants. In France the personal permission of the Prime Minister is required for the use of encryption. (Since relaxed when they realised the CIA was listening in to their defence secrets!) The UK has a voluntary licensing scheme giving the government access to secret keys. Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany have no controls. The EC has not been able to formulate an EU-wide policy. (E Voice 30/7/98)
• UK Electronic Communications Bill will give police the power to demand decryption keys from anyone they suspect of possessing them, and failure to hand keys over can lead to a two-year jail sentence. "Defendants will be presumed guilty of withholding a key unless they can prove otherwise (a likely contravention of the European Convention on Human Rights), and decryption notices will be secret, so it will be impossible to complain effectively if they are used in an oppressive way." A "tipping-off" offence could prevent innocent associates from complaining publicly, with a penalty of five-years imprisonment. (BBC News 24/7/99)
• Half the yoghurt sold in Britain to be renamed fermented milk. This decision is being considered by the WHO food standards agency at the insistence of France, Italy and Spain. If adopted it will be rubber stamped by the EU. (Daily Mail 14/2/98)
• Health food shops may be banned from selling vitamin B6. The government has been influenced by one flawed study into an intrinsically safe product. There has never been a fatality from vitamin B6, whereas aspirin kills at least two victims a week. This is entirely an UK government regulation. (S Telegraph 17/5/98) but accords with the ultimate aim of the EU to restrict sales of vitamins to recommended daily allowance levels.
• Green top (unpasturised) milk to be banned.
• EEC sponsored TV soap opera and news channel.
• Restriction on US TV programmes (See above).
• Compulsory price lists in pubs.
• Secret fishing boat holds for over-quota fish. (Confirm with the Canadians?)
• Pub darts banned as dangerous.
• Cheese served in restaurants has to be chilled (The rule covers wholesale not retail temperature control). However, the BBC Food Programme said that whole cheese can be stored at its optimum temperature but once cut is must be chilled (BBC R4 21/11/98)
• A ban on saucy seaside postcards.
• Farmers must mow their set-aside fields when wild birds are nesting (the CEC blames national governments for this interpretation of the EEC regulation OJ L221).
• Book prices to be standardised.
• Village cricket teas to face the axe (again, the CEC blames UK environmental health officers for this threat).
• Condiments must be in sachets rather than bottles and squeezy tubes.
• Wheat grown from thatching straw banned.
• School pupils can spend a year abroad without paying for their education.
• Jerrycans banned on garage forecourts.
• Charities paid by local authorities for giving services will have to bid for funds on the international market. (But true if they are in receipt of EU funds.)
• Sikhs must wear safety helmets. (Only on construction sites are Sikhs exempt from this EU Health & Safety regulation. Sikhs working in other areas have been sacked for wearing a turban instead of a helmet. Employers lose their insurance cover if Sikhs do not wear safety hats (Guardian 29/7/95))
• Sale of home made bread, jam, etc., banned (but there are many rules which will make it uneconomic to do so).
• The abolition of internal border controls will NOT ease drug trafficking insists the CEC. BUT: THE abolition of internal border controls in the European Union has opened the way for drug-trafficking on a huge scale and fostered the "criminalisation" of politics in Europe, it is claimed. The Geopolitical Observatory for Drugs, based in Paris, says in its annual report for 1999 that drug smuggling was on the rise worldwide, but that the EU's "Schengen area has become the most important drug market on the planet". It said the EU's anti-drug policies were "wishful thinking" and that drug gangs had gained a foothold in the political parties, police forces and courts of several EU countries. Britain has an opt-out from the Schengen agreement and has so far retained control of its own frontiers. Smugglers had penetrated the heart of the judicial apparatus and enjoyed a network of political protection in Galicia in Spain. Elements within both of Spain's major political parties had succumbed to the temptation of illicit funds, but the worst offenders were within the Partido Popular of the prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, said the report. Milan had become Italy's Mafia and money-laundering capital, at the centre of a "spider's web of criminality'' across the North involving Cosa Nostra, La Camorra (the Neapolitan Mafia), La Sacra Corona Unita, (from Puglia), and the ultra-secret but powerful 'Ndrangheta (from Calabria), in various forms of joint ventures" with the Albanian and Kosovar crime industry. "Members of the police forces, the judiciary and political world are equally implicated," says the report. (Daily Telegraph 22/4/2000)
• Fishermen must wear hairnets.
• Foreign boats can fish for cockles off the Essex coast.
• The navy cannot stir their Xmas puddings with an oar.
• Street vendors and cafes faced with closure from the food Hygiene directive (CEC says the rules will be voluntary - try to explain that to our EHO's!).
• Butchers shops forced to close (maybe not, but hundreds of slaughterhouses have been forced to close).
• Firemen forced to change their uniforms (but they will have to comply with EEC specifications in future).
• Christmas trees to be standardised (The Euro Trade Association has introduced standards).
• Traditional uneviscerated and matured turkeys banned (but they cannot be exported).
• Haddock dye banned.
• Dangerous consumer products such as foam furniture, prams, safety hats and cooker doors will be allowed in (This is at variance with the opinion of the Consumer's Association, see fireworks above).
• Silver Cross prams banned.
• Criminals will more easily obtain cheap firearms.
• Prawn cocktail and spring onion flavoured crisps banned (They were banned but this rule was changed).
• Paddling pools deeper than 12 inches are swimming pools and have to have a lifeguard.
• The common fisheries policy is illegal.
• Pork chops cannot be sold with kidneys attached.
• The doorstep pinta will be banned.
• The EEC will build a £900m tower 3,200 ft high to house 20,000 bureaucrats.
• EEC employees are overpaid.
• EEC Wildlife park tourist signs must have a picture of an elephant.
• Motorcycle helmets inferior to the British Safety Standard could be sold in the UK (Bike May 1993). This proposal has been withdrawn (Which? December 1993).
• If a road is wider than 12 metres then an EC regulation says that lamp posts must be at least 6 metres high. (Sunday Telegraph 6/6/93). This is denied by the CEC which says it has no powers in this area.
• Fishermen must carry condoms in their first aid kits (MCN 29/9/93). Denied by the CEC but there is a directive on medical assistance on vessels, see above.
• Seatbelts banned from UK coaches (EU rules require safety belts to be fitted by 2001).
• Book prices standardised across the EU.
• Only authorised aristocrats can put their titles on wine bottles (this is actually being considered by the European Parliament).
• EC officials have outlawed the fishy smells in Grimsby.
• Gin bottles must be round not square.
• Domestic car washing banned unless petrol interceptors are put in drains.
• Political parties banned from canvassing by post and direct mail.
• The EC to ban multi-vitamin pills.
• Eggs can have advertising on the shells (This was wanted by the UK government)
• Colouring for haddock, sausages and tinned mushy peas banned.
• Doorstep milk deliveries banned.
• Wine in the UK was served in standard quantities of 130ml and 180ml. On 1 January 1995 all restaurants have to serve it in either 125ml or 175ml units. The DTI said this was to bring the UK into line with the rest of Europe. All wine glasses must have a line stamped by a government approved body. This costs 20p per glass and has cost the catering industry an immense amount of money. Many restaurants have had to change all their glassware to keep it in matching sets. The law does not apply to champagne, port and sherry. Neither does it apply to a Bordeaux served as a digestif. In France restaurateurs are simply required to state the quantity of wine served by the glass. (FT 24/12/94). This is entirely a UK government inspired rule, there is no European legislation which has any effect on the amounts of alcohol served in pubs and restaurants (CEC/FT 12/1/95). In Ireland the Government simply altered the regulation so that the quarter gill was described as 35.5ml. Nothing had to be changed. (The Yardstick April 1997)
• Gin bottles must be round in shape.
• Guy Fawkes night bonfires banned. This was attempted by the Commissioners with their new pollution rules but our government got permission to allow pollution levels to be exceeded on the 5 November.
• Frequent traveller Air Miles to be taxed.
• Traditional pizzas outlawed.
• Valentine cards infringe EC dignity at work recommendations
• Rural garages forced to close because their petrol pumps are too close to the road.
• Imports of growth hormones in beef allowed. (In fact the EC Commission has confirmed the ban, the only country voting against the ban was the UK (FT 23/1/96)).
• The UK Government wants to introduce national regulation on pens and pencils by banning specific poisonous substances rather than allowing them to be covered by general product safety regulations. The EU has highlighted this as unnecessary regulation not EU inspired (FT 1/3/96)
• The Somerset Cider Brandy Company has been banned from using the term Brandy by the EU Spirit Drinks Interpretation Committee. The Spanish complained that brandy can only be made from wine. It will cost the company £100,000 to change its documentation (S Telegraph 19/11/95). The Commission has relented and now allows the use of the word brandy for apple based spirit.
• British bulldogs, spaniels, corgies and 100 other favourite British dog breeds to be banned in Europe. This is actually part of the Convention on Pets issued by the Council of Europe, not the EU. The convention would ban tail docking. The Labour party supports the convention but has not signed it. The Labour mascot, Fitz the bulldog, would be banned under the convention. (Council of Docked Breeds)
• The Council of Europe has passed a convention allowing medical research to be conducted on handicapped or coma patients who cannot give their consent. (D Telegraph p8 7/4/97)
• The WTO CODEX Commission on dietary supplements is proposing that no vitamins, minerals or herbs can be sold for preventive or therapeutic reasons. This is to become the standard for the global health industry. The Commission meets in secret and is dominated by the multinational drug companies. Delegate's interests do not have to be declared. No representatives from the natural health industry or complimentary medicine have been asked to contribute. If this directive becomes law then such natural products as aloe vera, billberry, camomile, feverfew, garlic, ginger, ginseng, liquorice, peppermint will have to be sold only by drug companies direct to medical doctors. (Independent on Sunday p21 6/4/97)
• All milk to be sterilised putting artisan cheese makers out of business. (The Americans are pressing the WTO to enforce this because their milk is so heavily contaminated by bacteria). Camembert, France's best-selling cheese is in danger of extinction. Made in Normandy from unpasteurised milk, production has already been severely circumscribed by EC regulations. Soon it may face extinction from international markets if Codex Alimentarius, the UN food authority carries out its ban on unpasteurised milk products. (Sunday telegraph 20/9/98)
• Beef can contain growth hormones (Currently banned by the EU, the USA is trying to force us to import their hormone soaked beef)
• High performance motorcycle tyres cannot be used once punctured. This is a British Standard reached in agreement with some tyre manufacturers.
• See also the CEC Press Watch<