Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Euromyth" in English language version.
The right-wing press regularly ridicules the EU for constructing silly and petty rules. One of the most popular forms of reporting EU matters is the so-called Euro-myth. These are exaggerated stories or even inventions about the activities of EU bodies, or EU directives which defy "common sense", such as the banning of mince pies, curved bananas, busty barmaids, soya milk, mushy peas, vitamin supplements – to name a few of the numerous examples ..."Guide to the best euromyths". BBC News. BBC. 23 March 2007. Archived from the original on 21 April 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
The British public loves a euro-furore - a story about changes to our traditional way of doing things, usually dreamt up by "barmy Brussels bureaucrats" or "meddling eurocrats".
In 2002 the press reported a threat to certain breeds of the Queen's favourite dog from "a controversial EU convention". The story turned on one key mistake. A European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals does exist, and it does condemn the breeding of some varieties of dogs as pets. However, it is a product of the Council of Europe, Europe's main human rights 'watchdog', not of the European Union, or 'Brussels bureaucrats'..
There was great alarm in 2005 when it was reported that 'po-faced pen-pushers' from the EU had ordered a cover-up of barmaids' cleavages.
Mother of all euromyths: Bananas must not be excessively curved ... 'Some wise cracker asked: "What does this mean for the curvature of bananas?"' recalled one EU official. The question stuck and a myth was born.
Some are entirely invented for excitable journalists—'Mumbai mix'—while others are tenuously connected to facts, such as the most famous Euromyth of them all, straight bananas.
European Union Member States yesterday held a preliminary vote on Commission proposals to repeal specific marketing standards for 26 types of fruit and vegetables. While not binding, the vote gives a strong indication that these standards will be repealed when the formal vote is taken later in the year. The Member States did not reach a qualified majority either for or against the proposal. If, after allowing time for appropriate scrutiny by our trading partners, this vote were repeated later in the year, the rules would be repealed under the Commission's responsibility. The Commission's initiative to get rid of these standards followed a declaration made last year during the reform of the Common Market Organisation for fruit and vegetables. It is a major element in the Commission's ongoing efforts to streamline and simplify the rules and cut red tape. The proposal would also allow Member States to exempt fruit and vegetables from specific marketing standards if they are sold with a label 'products intended for processing' or equivalent wording. Such products could be either misshapen or under-sized and could for example be used by consumers for cooking or salads etc. In this era of high prices and growing demand, it makes no sense to throw these products away or destroy them. 'This is a concrete example of our drive to cut red tape and I will continue to push until it goes through,' said Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development. 'It shouldn't be the EU's job to regulate these things. It is far better to leave it to market operators. It will also cut down on unnecessary waste and benefit consumers.' The proposals would maintain specific marketing standards for 10 products which account for 75 percent of the value of EU trade: apples, citrus fruit, kiwi fruit, lettuces, peaches and nectarines, pears, strawberries, sweet peppers, table grapes, tomatoes. Member States could exempt even these from the standards if they were sold in the shops with an appropriate label. They would abolish specific standards for 26 products: apricots, artichokes, asparagus, aubergines, avocadoes, beans, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflowers, cherries, courgettes, cucumbers, cultivated mushrooms, garlic, hazelnuts in shell, headed cabbage, leeks, melons, onions, peas, plums, ribbed celery, spinach, walnuts in shell, water melons, witloof/chicory, while setting new general minimum standards for the marketing of fruit and vegetables. For practical reasons, all of these changes would be implemented from 1 July 2009.
Hang on: I thought it was all meant to be a scare story. Whenever Euro-enthusiasts found themselves losing an argument, they would say, "You're making all this up: it's a tabloid Euro-myth, like bent bananas". [...] Yet it now turns out that, by the EU's own admission, there were rules specifying the maximum permitted curvature of bananas.
Euromyths provide great fun for journalists. The media has a mission to entertain, and some of them rise magnificently to that goal, Mr Cook said. "But they are failing in their other mission – to inform. From now on, the Government will be rebutting all such stories vigorously and promptly. You will be hearing the catchphrase 'facts, not myths' until that is the way the EU is reported.
It all began, I am reliably informed, in the boardroom of a well known sauce manufacturer which must remain nameless. [...] Such firms do not understandably like to be seen manipulating or greasing the wheels of power for their own ends, so the company in question retained a lobbying firm which must also remain nameless.
The right-wing press regularly ridicules the EU for constructing silly and petty rules. One of the most popular forms of reporting EU matters is the so-called Euro-myth. These are exaggerated stories or even inventions about the activities of EU bodies, or EU directives which defy "common sense", such as the banning of mince pies, curved bananas, busty barmaids, soya milk, mushy peas, vitamin supplements – to name a few of the numerous examples ..."Guide to the best euromyths". BBC News. BBC. 23 March 2007. Archived from the original on 21 April 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
The British public loves a euro-furore - a story about changes to our traditional way of doing things, usually dreamt up by "barmy Brussels bureaucrats" or "meddling eurocrats".
Hang on: I thought it was all meant to be a scare story. Whenever Euro-enthusiasts found themselves losing an argument, they would say, "You're making all this up: it's a tabloid Euro-myth, like bent bananas". [...] Yet it now turns out that, by the EU's own admission, there were rules specifying the maximum permitted curvature of bananas.
European Union Member States yesterday held a preliminary vote on Commission proposals to repeal specific marketing standards for 26 types of fruit and vegetables. While not binding, the vote gives a strong indication that these standards will be repealed when the formal vote is taken later in the year. The Member States did not reach a qualified majority either for or against the proposal. If, after allowing time for appropriate scrutiny by our trading partners, this vote were repeated later in the year, the rules would be repealed under the Commission's responsibility. The Commission's initiative to get rid of these standards followed a declaration made last year during the reform of the Common Market Organisation for fruit and vegetables. It is a major element in the Commission's ongoing efforts to streamline and simplify the rules and cut red tape. The proposal would also allow Member States to exempt fruit and vegetables from specific marketing standards if they are sold with a label 'products intended for processing' or equivalent wording. Such products could be either misshapen or under-sized and could for example be used by consumers for cooking or salads etc. In this era of high prices and growing demand, it makes no sense to throw these products away or destroy them. 'This is a concrete example of our drive to cut red tape and I will continue to push until it goes through,' said Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development. 'It shouldn't be the EU's job to regulate these things. It is far better to leave it to market operators. It will also cut down on unnecessary waste and benefit consumers.' The proposals would maintain specific marketing standards for 10 products which account for 75 percent of the value of EU trade: apples, citrus fruit, kiwi fruit, lettuces, peaches and nectarines, pears, strawberries, sweet peppers, table grapes, tomatoes. Member States could exempt even these from the standards if they were sold in the shops with an appropriate label. They would abolish specific standards for 26 products: apricots, artichokes, asparagus, aubergines, avocadoes, beans, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflowers, cherries, courgettes, cucumbers, cultivated mushrooms, garlic, hazelnuts in shell, headed cabbage, leeks, melons, onions, peas, plums, ribbed celery, spinach, walnuts in shell, water melons, witloof/chicory, while setting new general minimum standards for the marketing of fruit and vegetables. For practical reasons, all of these changes would be implemented from 1 July 2009.
