A new lie about the European Union is circulating on social networks and even on some news channels. The false information is that the EU would ban meat consumption by 2030. In fact, the reality is completely different and simpler: there is no ban on animal meat consumption to enter into force in 7 years.
University professor Ciprian Mihali, also a PRESShub contributor, shows in an analysis how this manipulation appeared in the public space.
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„If you will see on the scandal and political parties financed television in the next few days written in big letters that the European Union is about to ban us from eating meat, it is useful to know where this manipulation begins.
This time, it doesn’t start from Moscow or other disinformation laboratories, but it starts from us, from our independent and well-informed press. Disinformation can be very cleverly constructed, in such a way that pieces of correct information are put together in such a way that their conclusion is the desired one.
In this case, the information is not erroneous, but the way it is written in the article may lead to the (erroneous) conclusion that the EU is launching a new oppressive campaign concerning Romania”, wrote Ciprian Mihali.
The „bug” in the article used for manipulation
The article referred to by the professor, entitled „2050: 0% CO2. Is meat forbidden? After the ban on petrol cars from 2035, Europe must reduce the consumption of animal meat by 71% by 2030„, published by Mediafax News Agency, it starts from the idea that because of the Paris climate agreement of 2015, the European states committed themselves to fulfill by 2050 the objective of „net zero emissions” of greenhouse gases, especially CO2.
„But what Mediafax is doing wrong right from the start is to confuse the object of climate neutrality with zero greenhouse gas emissions. What does this mean? For Mediafax, it means ‘reducing greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible’.
In reality, however, climate neutrality means ‘achieving a balance between carbon dioxide emissions and the reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere through absorbers’. Which is not quite the same thing,” explained the professor.
2 pieces of misrepresented information
Next, the article presents distortedly another premise, points out Ciprian Mihali. Two situations are presented that can contribute to achieving climate neutrality: reducing and even stopping the production of gasoline and gas cars by 2035 and reducing the consumption of animal meat.
The article then claims that Europe must reduce meat consumption with 71% by 2030, and Romania, although it consumes less meat than 24 other European countries, must reduce this consumption by 75%.
„After that, they talk about Ursula von der Leyen in a quote and the story is ready: we only have seven years left to eat meat, after which Ursula and the EU will ban it and force us to eat insects! Woe to us!”
„The diabolical detail – because, isn’t it, the devil always hides in the details – is that the statistics regarding meat consumption and, above all, the ‘bans’ do not come from the EU, but from an NGO, Greenpeace.
Which submitted an article to the European Union in 2020 in which it says: «meat consumption in the EU should decrease by 71% by 2030 and by 81% by 2050 to limit the contribution of farmers to climate degradation». ‘Should’ – but also ignoring the details can be diabolical sometimes”, Ciprian Mihali pointed out.
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How disinformation is produced
Ciprian Mihali shows what are the 3 slippages of meaning that produce misinformation:
1) the confusion between 0 emission of CO2 (i.e. not to burn at all, not to produce any more CO2) and climate neutrality (i.e. to absorb as much as possible everything we produce, through natural absorbers such as forests, oceans, soil, etc.).
2) presenting the study of an NGO as if it were a binding EU program;
3) the confusion between a recommendation from a study and an EU ban.
„The alarming conclusion of these misunderstandings is only one: Romania is once again the victim of an EU plot, and we are kept on the edge of Europe, and we are the most punished for the mistakes of others, etc.
Not by chance, the last subtitle of the Mediafax article sounds even more alarming: ‘Will the EU really force us to eat insects without knowing?’, this after we were told that meat is prohibited. Did you understand how fear and hatred towards Europe are being built in the country of barbecue and grill food lovers?”, finished Ciprian Mihali.
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