The lies, the myths, the bad press. Straight cucumbers? Banning the British banger? Diminutive double-decker buses? Are the bureaucrats in Brussels mad or misunderstood? We separate the myth from reality. (Read it through then try the "What a load of Bananas! Euromyths Quiz" and check how much you've taken on board).

Rumour
Straight cucumbers
Cucumbers have to be straight and must not arch more than 10mm for every 10mm of their length so people can tell how many are in a box. The Sun, 4 March 1998, p6
Reality
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: they simply help to inform traders of particular specifications. The EU Single Market rules are identical to pre-existing standards set down both by the UN/OECD and the UK.

Rumour
the Euro condom - The EU has decreed that condom dimensions should be harmonised across the seamless Continent. The Independent on Sunday, page 25, 12 March 2000
Reality
The EU is not involved in setting condom standards. The European Standardisation Committee (CEN) is a voluntary body made up of national standards agencies and affiliated industry/consumer organisations from nineteen European countries. It has nothing to do with the EU.

Rumour
Corgis banned - Certain breeds of the Queen's favourite dog could be outlawed under a controversial EU convention being considered by ministers, it emerged last night. Some corgis - along with bulldogs, cocker spaniels and King Charles spaniels - could be among 100 breeds banned, animal lovers fear.
Daily Mail, 30 April 2002, p 5
Reality
This so-called 'EU convention' has nothing whatsoever to do with the EU. A committee of animal protection experts drew up the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals in 1987 under the auspices of the Council of Europe - an intergovernmental organisation based in Strasbourg and completely separate from the EU. The UK is a member but has so far declined to become a signatory to this entirely voluntary agreement designed to improve the welfare of household pets.

Rumour
New eggs cannot be called eggs It is the egg that dare not speak its name - thanks to the bureaucrats of Brussels. In what astonished critics derided as a half-baked decision, European Union officials have ruled that a new egg from Sainsbury's cannot be called by its proper name - because it has been slightly heated up to get rid of hazardous bugs. Daily Mail, p8, 14 August 2000
Reality
This is untrue. The Commission had made no such pronouncement, nor had it even investigated the issue. Whether or not the treated egg can be labelled 'fresh' or otherwise remains to be seen. The Commission takes seriously the need for proper labelling to enable informed consumer choice within the single market. In September it adopted a proposal for the compulsory, clear and unambiguous labelling of the farming method used to produce eggs. This was to increase consumer awareness of new rules on the protection of laying hens agreed in 1999.

Rumour
small fruit banned - "We'll fight them on the peaches, says Co-op" - The Co-op will risk prosecution today by selling peaches below the minimum size allowed by the European Union. The retailer&aims to expose the "absurdity" of EU red tape that prevents more organic fruit being made available. The Daily Telegraph, 2 July 2001, page 8 "Euro row as peaches fail to measure up" A new Euro-row is set to break out today over the size of peaches being sold in British stores. From 1 July until the end of October it is illegal to sell peaches less than 56 mm in diameter. Daily Express, 2 July 2001, page 24
Reality
The diameter of the fruit is a way of measuring its maturity/development. Fruit grown organically or conventionally have to reach a certain degree of maturity in order to have a reasonable chance of satisfying the consumer. The minimum diameters laid down by standards are usually fixed at a level at which most fruit are of a satisfactory quality for consumption. This minimum stage of development does not depend on the method of production, but more on cultivation techniques diminishing the number of fruits on the tree to allow a better development of the remaining ones. That is why there is no specific requirement for organic produce. The contrary would mean organic farmers being allowed to sell smaller produce.

Rumour
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"
The Sunday Telegraph, p20, 26 March 2000, Christopher Booker
Reality
This is rubbish. 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.

Rumour
fishermen to wear hairnets
Reality
This is nonsense. This story does however have a tenuous link with an EC Directive which came into effect with the opening up of the Single Market and which aims to prevent the contamination of fish. The appropriate clause refers specifically to the introduction and/or maintenance of high standards of hygiene in fish processing plants and amongst all staff involved in the packaging of fish. And although the Directive mentions that these staff should wear a suitable head cover to ensure that hair does not find its way into the final product, it certainly does not force any staff, least of all fishermen, to wear a hairnet! Indeed it has absolutely no effect on fishermen at sea, with the logical exception of workers aboard factory-vessels upon which the processing and packaging of fish is carried out.

WaluEurope
12 February 2004