Cranking up its propaganda campaign for the EU constitution, the European Commission has opened up a new section of its website under the title "Get Your Facts Straight". This is dedicated to countering the dreadful lies about the EU peddled by the British press.
A typical "Euromyth", it claims, is that the EU plans to ban advertising slogans such as "Guinness is good for you". Typical Eurosceptic lies, it says. "Slogans like 'Guinness is good for you' will still be with us. In fact the EU has no plans to introduce any new legislation at all."
Martin Callinan, a Tory MEP who sits on the relevant committee of the European Parliament, sends me the text of a regulation currently going through the system, which states that "beverages containing more than 1.2 per cent by volume of alcohol" shall not "bear health claims of any kind". It will become illegal for any "food or nutrient" to make claims implying that it provides " general non-specific benefits" or promotes "overall good health and well-being".
In other words, the use of the slogan "Guinness is good for you" is to become a criminal offence and when the Commission says this is a "myth" what it really means, as on so many other issues, is the precise opposite.
Cranking up its propaganda campaign for the EU constitution, the European Commission has opened up a new section of its website under the title "Get Your Facts Straight". This is dedicated to countering the dreadful lies about the EU peddled by the British press.