NO. | MYTH | CASE | TRUE | FALSE |
#1 | The EU banned straight and bendy bananas. | EU didn’t ban them but applied specific standards. Bananas are classified by quality and size. There are two classes: 1 can have slight defects of shape and class 2 has full on defects of shape. | ✓ | ✓ |
#2 | EU wants to ban children from colouring. | This myth relates to the EU introducing measures in order to reduce lead in toys. The new regulation entered into force in 2018 is there to ensure that children can play safely and without being exposed to lead poisoning. | ✓ | |
#3 | The EU wants to ban donner kebabs. | This was related to a debate in the European Parliament about whether to ban the use of phosphates as a preservative in processed meat. However, the majority of elected parliamentarians voted against a proposal, which would have required a change in the manufacturing process of kebab meat. | ✓ | |
#4 | EU banned vacuum cleaners. | The EU didn’t ban vacuum cleaners as a whole but in 2017 it did enforce a ban on inefficient cleaners over 900W that are manufactured or sold in the EU. | ✓ | ✓ |
#5 | German children banned from sending their wish-lists to Santa because of EU privacy laws. | This myth is related to GDPR. Under EU data protection rules, data can be processed when a person has given their consent but also on the basis of other legal grounds. In this context, Santa Claus should have the contact details of a family in order to deliver presents on the wish list he received – in the case of minors, provided their parents agree. | ✓ | |
#6 | The EU imposes heftier speeding fines on Brits than other EU citizens. | In 2015, the EU introduced rules to ensure that drivers from one EU country cannot break traffic rules in other EU countries without paying the necessary fine. This means EU citizens caught driving dangerously fast on the way to their holidays will be identified and no longer be able to ignore fines they receive through the post. | ✓ | |
#7 | The EU wants to ban fries. | The EU merely agreed that food manufacturers must reduce the level of the harmful substance acrylamide in our food. Acrylamide is a carcinogenic substance that forms from naturally present free asparagine (amino acid) and sugars during high temperature processing, such as frying, roasting and baking, particularly in potato-based products, cereal-based products, coffee and coffee substitutes. | ✓ | ✓ |
#8 | The EU outlaws drinking beer in steins. | No law was passed at EU level to ban steins. A 2004 EU law, the Measuring Instruments Directive, sets out that in bars & restaurants, beer should be served in glasses with visible filling marks in the interest of consumers, so that it is always clear that they are being served the correct quantities. This of course doesn’t apply to opaque steins, which aren’t designed for accurate measurements. | ✓ | |
#9 | East Europeans are coming and stealing our jobs and welfare. | In fact: Some large companies hire workers at cheap Eastern European wage rates, and then bring them to work in Western Europe on short-term contracts. This saves on companies’ labor bills, but it reduces the jobs and income available to western European workers, whose wage rates under their regional negotiated wage bargaining agreements are much higher. It also reduces western governments’ employment tax income. Migrant labourers from the eastern half of the continent continue to face high levels of discrimination and exploitation at their places of work, with many suffering everything from poverty-level wages and punishingly long hours to the threat of expulsion and sexual assault. | ✓ | |
#10 | EU is a “bureaucracy machine” that does not touch everyday life of EU citizens. | The Parliament is directly elected by EU citizens every five years. The Council of the European Union, sometimes called the Council of Ministers, is where representatives of all 28 member countries negotiate.
These two institutions debate, amend and pass EU law. |
✓ | |
#11 | The EU costs a lot of money | 2016 stats: While most of the EU countries contributed shares between 0.07 percent (Malta) and 1.83 percent (Denmark), there were only four Member States, namely France, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom (UK), which reached contribution shares greater than 10 percent. Together, these four countries make up over 60 percent of all contributions, with Germany contributing the largest single proportion with 19 percent. | ✓ | |
#12 | The EU is the bad institution which tries to get Switzerland in it and deprive its sovereignty | Switzerland is the EU’s third largest economic partner (trade in goods and services taken together). In turn, the EU is by far the most important trading partner for Switzerland, accounting for 65% of its imports and 44% of its exports of goods in 2015. In commercial services and foreign direct investments, the EU’s share is equally dominant. This is to the mutual benefit, and Switzerland has a policy of promoting itself as a stepping stone to the EU, thanks to the significant degree of integration it has with the EU internal market. | ✓ | |
#13 | The EU is covering the cost of every report of domestic abuse in all Member States | The European Commission funding is directed towards the Rights, Equality and Citizenship programme which then distributes funds to the fight against violence. | ✓ | |
#14 | The European Flag is inspired by Christianity | According to the official EU website the flag
features a circle of 12 gold stars on a blue background. They stand for the ideals of unity, solidarity and harmony among the peoples of Europe. The number of stars has nothing to do with the number of member countries, though the circle is a symbol of unity. |
✓ | |
#15 | Multinationals cost us 1 trillion euro per year | According the estimates this figure is true, but also combines avoidance and evasion involving SMEs, large multinationals and individual citizens. | ✓ | ✓ |
#16 | European Commission spends 80 thousand euros a year on alcohol. | According to the European Commission it is difficult to estimate the actual costs relating to this. This figure is true but also takes into account catering services and cooking wine. | ✓ | ✓ |
#17 | The EU regulates the weight, size and curves of the cucumbers. | 1988 regulation that established “quality standards for cucumbers” was revised in 2008 and since 1st July 2009 our cucumbers can have any weight, size and curves they want. | ✓ | |
#18 | The air pollution is costing the EU around 62 billion euros per year | According to a study by the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) are most likely a correct estimate of the costs of health problems due to traffic related air pollution. | ✓ | |
#19 | UK is removing the word “European Union” from British passports | Regardless of what happens with Brexit, the UK Home Office on it’s website confirms information about the gradual “withdrawal from circulation” of “European” passports in Britain | ✓ | |
#20 | Foods within the EU are traceable all along the supply chain | In theory foods in circulation within the EU are traceable but there is a margin between traceability and actual trace. | ✓ | ✓ |