Euromyth
Encyclopedia
A euromyth is what the European Commission
calls media stories about its policies which it claims are untrue. Such claims are usually seen as disparaging of the European Commission and its supposed bureaucratic absurdity.. The European Commission often claims such stories are invented by the media, while Eurosceptic
s argue such stories are often true, and that hostile media reaction has caused an unpopular policy to be abandoned. Some Eurosceptics now use the term "Euromyth" to describe inflated claims made about the achievements of the EU.
Sometimes debate as to whether a particular claim is true or not continues long after the original story appeared. On occasions, Euromyths may arise when the actions of a different European organisation, such as the Council of Europe
, are erroneously attributed to the EU.
The European Union has introduced a policy of publicly rebutting negative coverage that it regards as unfair or distorted.
In some cases Euromyth-type stories have been traced to deliberate attempts by lobbyists to influence actions by the European bureaucracy, for instance the imposition of customs duties. EU officials have also claimed that many such stories result from unclear or misunderstood information on complicated policies, and are claimed to have seized on minor errors in stories as evidence that they are entirely fictional.
On 29 July 2008, the European Commission held a preliminary vote towards repealing certain regulations relating to other fruit and vegetables (but not bananas). According to the Commission's press release, "In this era of high prices and growing demand, it makes no sense to throw these products away or destroy them [...] It shouldn't be the EU's job to regulate these things. It is far better to leave it to market operators." Some Eurosceptic sources have claimed this to be an admission that the original regulations did indeed ban under-sized or misshapen fruit and vegetables.
On 25 March 2010, a BBC article noted that there are EU shape standardisation regulations in force on: "apples, citrus fruit, kiwi fruit, lettuces, peaches and nectarines, pears, strawberries, sweet peppers, table grapes and tomatoes," (but not bananas), and "Marketing standards for 26 types of produce were scrapped by MEPs in November 2008, in a drive to cut EU bureaucracy, with misshapen fruit and vegetables coming back on sale in the UK last summer. This happened after it was revealed a fifth of produce had been rejected by shops across the EU because it failed to meet the requirements."
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
calls media stories about its policies which it claims are untrue. Such claims are usually seen as disparaging of the European Commission and its supposed bureaucratic absurdity.. The European Commission often claims such stories are invented by the media, while Eurosceptic
EuroSceptic
EuroSceptic is the second album of British singer Jack Lucien. It was released in October 2009.Due to being an album influenced by Europop, it features songs with parts in different languages...
s argue such stories are often true, and that hostile media reaction has caused an unpopular policy to be abandoned. Some Eurosceptics now use the term "Euromyth" to describe inflated claims made about the achievements of the EU.
Sometimes debate as to whether a particular claim is true or not continues long after the original story appeared. On occasions, Euromyths may arise when the actions of a different European organisation, such as the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
, are erroneously attributed to the EU.
The European Union has introduced a policy of publicly rebutting negative coverage that it regards as unfair or distorted.
Source of Euromyths
Accusations of distorted or untruthful reporting are most commonly directed at conservative and Eurosceptic sections of the British media. Stories often present the European civil service as drafting rules that "defy common sense". Examples cited as Euromyths include stories about rules banning mince-pies, curved bananas and mushy peas. Others include a story that English fish and chips shops would be forced to use Latin names for their fish (Sun, 5 September 2001), that double-decker buses would be banned (The Times, 9 April 1998), that British rhubarb must be straight, and that barmaids would have to cover up their cleavages.In some cases Euromyth-type stories have been traced to deliberate attempts by lobbyists to influence actions by the European bureaucracy, for instance the imposition of customs duties. EU officials have also claimed that many such stories result from unclear or misunderstood information on complicated policies, and are claimed to have seized on minor errors in stories as evidence that they are entirely fictional.
Straight bananas
The alleged ban on curved bananas is a long-standing, famous, and stereotypical claim that is used in headlines to typify the Euromyth. Amongst other issues of acceptable quality and standards, the regulation does actually specify minimum dimensions. It also states that bananas shall be free from deformation or abnormal curvature. However the provisions relating to shape apply fully only to bananas sold as Extra class; some defects of shape (but not size) are permitted in Class I and Class II bananas.On 29 July 2008, the European Commission held a preliminary vote towards repealing certain regulations relating to other fruit and vegetables (but not bananas). According to the Commission's press release, "In this era of high prices and growing demand, it makes no sense to throw these products away or destroy them [...] It shouldn't be the EU's job to regulate these things. It is far better to leave it to market operators." Some Eurosceptic sources have claimed this to be an admission that the original regulations did indeed ban under-sized or misshapen fruit and vegetables.
On 25 March 2010, a BBC article noted that there are EU shape standardisation regulations in force on: "apples, citrus fruit, kiwi fruit, lettuces, peaches and nectarines, pears, strawberries, sweet peppers, table grapes and tomatoes," (but not bananas), and "Marketing standards for 26 types of produce were scrapped by MEPs in November 2008, in a drive to cut EU bureaucracy, with misshapen fruit and vegetables coming back on sale in the UK last summer. This happened after it was revealed a fifth of produce had been rejected by shops across the EU because it failed to meet the requirements."