Brussels, June 29 (DPA) There are no European Union plans to stop people from buying eggs by the dozen, a leading EU lawmaker said Tuesday, contradicting reports that had appeared a day previously in the British press.
Broadsheet and tabloid newspapers indicated that the European Parliament had rejected amendments to draft new regulations on food
labelling that would have allowed EU states to permit the sale of particular groceries by their number, rather than by their weight.
But the EU lawmaker charged with steering the legislation through, German conservative Renate Sommer, assured them in a statement that ‘there will will be no changes to selling foods by number.’
A European Parliament spokesman told DPA that while the general EU rule is for food to be sold by weight, exemptions exist for specific products, including eggs.
These would continue even if the amendments mentioned by British media have not been adopted, he stressed.
The new regulation – introducing more information on food products’ nutritional value – was approved by the EU assembly on June
16, but still needs to win approval from EU governments. Officials say it is unlikely to enter into force before the end of 2011.
British media reports about it had even sparked a government reaction, with Environment Secretary Catherine Spelman vowing to
defend the rights of shoppers before EU partners.
‘Shopkeeping is a long standing British tradition and we know what customers want. They want to buy eggs by the dozen and they should be allowed to,’ said Spelman, who hails from the traditionally Euro-sceptic Conservative party.
Public opinion in Britain is generally suspicious of the EU, and media in the country regularly warn that projects sponsored by the
bloc would trample national sovereignty.
Not all reporting is accurate, however. To correct misleading information, the European Commission’s delegation to Britain has gone
as far as setting a page on its website to debunk so-called ‘Euromyths.’
