June 21, 2011
The following letter has been sent to the Sunday Express, after a story claiming that EU rules would allow experiments on pets and stray animals.
Your front-page on EU plans to use pets in scientific experiments is nonsense. The pets of Britain are safe from scientific experiments. EU rules state that only animals specifically bred for research can be used. Only where the research specifically relates to stray animals (say, into illnesses that could be passed to children after contact with strays) can an exception be made.
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August 20, 2010
Letter to the Sunday Express, sent on 20th August 2010:
Dear Sir,
Contrary to the claims in your article “Brussels wants 2-year MOT tests”, 15 August 2010, let me reassure your readers that the European Commission has not proposed scrapping annual MOTs in the UK. It is undertaking a consultation to gauge the public’s views. If your readers wish to highlight the value of annual testing, I suggest they take part in the consultation at: http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/ipm/forms/dispatch?form=roadworthiness
Separately, EU legislation has recently been updated to take on board best practice in vehicle testing. This has only slightly influenced the UK’s MOT system as most of the new elements were already covered, and in any case this amendment did not touch on frequency of the tests.
Yours faithfully
Antonia Mochan
Head of Media
European Commission Representation, London
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April 6, 2010
Suggestions from some papers over the Easter holiday that “EU officials” want to change the name of the English Channel to the “Anglo-French Pond” are as untrue as they are ridiculous. That people writing and quoted in these stories believe that the EU could even consider such a thing demonstrates the poor level of knowledge about both the organisation’s decision-making process and the limits as to what subjects are discussed at EU level.
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December 12, 2006
Ambulance shake-up “kills 12′ (Sunday Express, 7 January 2007 front page)
Two central issues are raising alarm …Secondly, for the first time ambulance teams have to take meal breaks of up to 45 minutes. These are ruled compulsory under EU law but are actually subject to local negotiation. Before crews took breaks when and where they could during shifts so that they were always available for calls.
Heart attack man dies as 999 crew take a rest break (Daily Mail, 6 January 2007 p.36)
Two ambulance crews were unavailable to help a dying man because they were on breaks laid down by European laws. Under new rules to comply with health and safety and the European Working Time directives the two crews remained at th ir North London ambulance station despite receiving a 999 call…….Yesterday a London Ambulance Service spokesman admitted two crews were unable to attend because they were on “EU rest …
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March 18, 2001
“Q: When is a walnut not a walnut? A: When it does not conform to Euro regulation 175/2001″
(Sunday Express, 18 March 2001, page 19)
It is the European Union directive to end all European directives. After instructions on how bent bananas can be and the precise degree of curvature allowed in a cucumber, Brussels bureaucrats have turned their attentions to the walnut… to the EU’s highly paid teams of officials, walnuts are just another opportunity for rolling out some more red tape.
Like bananas and cucumbers, there are indeed grading rules for walnuts. They were called for by representatives from the industry to enable buyers in one country to know what quantity and quality they would get when purchasing a box, unseen, from another country. The regulation simply aims to help inform traders of particular specifications.
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October 29, 2000
Brussels plan to scrap our passports (The Mail on Sunday, 29 October 2000, page 1)
Eurocrats are to demand that the Queen’s crest is wiped from British passports – and replaced by the yellow stars of the EU.
Our passports to lose royal crest (Sunday People, 29 October 2000, page 4)
The Queen’s crest on British passports is set to be scrapped – on orders of Euro officials.
Battle royal looms over UK passports (Sunday Express, 29 October 2000, page 4)
Tony Blair faces a battle with Brussels over plans for a new European Union passport
Firstly, there is no such thing as a European passport. There are British passports, French passports, German passports, etc. Each follows a European format in order to speed up travel in the EU by making it easier for customs and police officers to recognise.
There are no plans to replace the Queen’s crest with the EU stars. In any case, no …
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January 23, 2000
Britain’s A-levels and university degrees could be axed in an EU plan to harmonise schools and teaching. They would be replaced by European-style diplomas…
(Sunday Express, p7, 23 January 2000)
The Portuguese Presidency document in question expressly talks about “fostering the mobility of students, teachers and training staff … through recognition of diplomas”. It is hard to see how this can be interpreted as “harmonisation”. It is also wrong to give the impression that an EU-wide curriculum of this type could be imposed. The responsibility of Member States for the content and organisation of teaching is specifically protected within the Treaty of Amsterdam.
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July 11, 1999
Brussels bureaucrats are being accused of trying to rewrite British history. Under a new EU plan, officials will spend millions of pounds promoting historical projects aimed at promoting European cooperation.
Sunday Express, p7, 11 July 1999
There is no question of “Brussels bureaucrats” rewriting the history books. The resolution passed by EU Culture Ministers on 28 June does nothing more than encourage the European Commission to be aware of historical projects in its cultural programmes. In fact, the resolution is based on “awareness and protection of cultural diversity and mutual understanding” and reasserts that history teaching in schools is the responsibility of Member States.
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August 9, 1995
As from December 1995 the European Commission is outlawing Britain’s traditional mushy peas.
Daily Telegraph, p3, 9 August 1995
Today, p2, 9 August 1995
Daily Mail, p13, 10 August 1995
The Sun, p3, 10 August 1995
Daily Mirror, p9, 10 August 1995
Daily Express, p23, 10 August 1995
Western Daily Press, 10 August 1995
Western Morning News, 10 August 1995
Evening Mail, p4, 10 August 1995
Independent on Sunday, p18, 13 August 1995
Sunday Express, p37, 13 August 1995
Sunday Times, p29, 27 August 1995
This is not entirely correct. The European Commission consulted extensively with Governments and the food industry before drafting a Directive governing colours in foodstuffs, and permitting those colours to be harmless. The Directive was subsequently adopted by the European Parliament and the Council (94/36/EC), and came into force in December 1996.
One of the Directive’s general principles is that fresh and processed vegetables may not be coloured. However certain exceptions are allowed, and were introduced into the legislation following …
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