As if European Union bureaucrats don\u2019t have enough on their hands trying to extinguish financial fires raging across the broken continent, they\u2019ve now decided to take their unlimited powers to the holy of holies: EU eateries.<\/p>\n
Yes, at a time when harsh austerity measures, delayed
\nretirements and high unemployment levels are pushing Europeans to
\nvent their outrage on the cobblestone streets, Brussels decided
\nthis was the perfect time to impose strict new rules on how
\nrestaurants serve olive oil to their customers.<\/p>\n
Starting January 1, 2014, eateries will be prohibited from
\nserving olive oil to diners in the traditional glass jugs that have
\nbeen adorning European tables since at least the Middle Ages.
\nInstead, cafes, bistros and brasseries will be forced to provide
\ntheir patrons with pre-sealed, non-refillable containers that
\ncannot be easily recycled when empty.<\/p>\n
Once upon a time, Europe set the standards on environmental
\nissues; now, it is behaving no matter than Little Jack Horner,
\nsticking its dirty fingers where they don\u2019t belong. Yet it is
\ntrying to convince the world that it really, honestly, truthfully
\njust wants to protect the health of the average EU diner, the same
\ngroup of people that was physically and morally assaulted by raw
\nausterity.<\/p>\n
Remember a few months ago when the European Commission was busy
\ndisassembling the EU\u2019s world-class welfare system in order to pay
\nback the interest on central bank loans needed to rescue the
\nbankers \u2014 the same scoundrels who triggered the global financial
\ncrisis in the first place? At that time, Brussels didn\u2019t so much as
\nbat an eyelid about the health and well being of their fellow
\nEuropeans.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, however, EU ministers have decided to wage a war on
\nbad hygiene and sound traditions when many Europeans can\u2019t afford a
\nbar of decent soap. They also say the move will help reassure
\nwhat\u2019s left of their consumer base that the olive oil found in EU
\nrestaurants has not been diluted with an inferior (Read: Less
\nexpensive) product.<\/p>\n
No wonder that critics say the rules, aside from boosting
\nprofits of the biggest olive oil producing companies (small,
\nprivate proprietors need not apply), will increase the frustration
\nfelt by many towards a Brussels bureaucracy machine that is already
\nseen to be out of touch with the issues affecting ordinary
\nEuropeans.<\/p>\n
“If the European Union was logical and properly run, people
\nwouldn’t be so anti-Europe,\u201d<\/i> said Marina Yannakoudakis, a
\nBritish Conservative member of the European Parliament, as quoted
\nby Reuters. \u201cBut when it comes up with crazy things like this,
\nit quite rightly calls into question their legitimacy and
\njudgment.”<\/i><\/p>\n
Yannakoudakis said the new measures highlighted how out of touch
\nBrussels\u2019 priorities are.<\/p>\n
Ironically, the Eurozone countries worst affected by the euro
\ncrisis – Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal \u2014 where unemployment
\nlevels are sky-high, are also the continent\u2019s largest olive oil
\nproducers. It remains to be seen how the new legislation will
\naffect the small olive oil producers in those already pressed
\neconomies.<\/p>\n
German newspaper Sueddetsche Zeitung called the plan as “the
\nweirdest decision since the legendary curvy cucumber
\nregulation”,<\/i> referring to former EU rules governing the shape
\nof fruit and vegetables found in supermarkets.<\/p>\n
Enzo Sica, owner of Italian restaurant Creche des Artistes close
\nto the EU quarter of Brussels, said the rules would prevent him
\nfrom buying his extra virgin olive oil direct from a traditional
\nsupplier in Italy.<\/p>\n
“They say they’re thinking about consumers, but this will
\nincrease costs for us and our customers as well,\u201d<\/i> he told
\nReuters.\u201cIn this time of crisis, surely they should be worrying
\nabout other things rather than stupid stuff like this.”<\/i><\/p>\n
Although Brussels\u2019 olive oil ruling isn\u2019t quite as inflammatory
\nas was Marie Antoinette\u2019s unfortunate quip, \u201cLet them eat
\ncake,\u201d<\/i> it does adequately show that EU ministers are
\ndangerously out of touch with the real issues now affecting
\nmillions of people across the Eurozone.<\/p>\n
Robert Bridge, RT<\/i><\/p>\n
Robert Bridge is the author of the book,<\/i>
\nMidnight in the American Empire<\/a><\/i>, which discusses
\nthe dangers of extreme corporate power in the United
\nStates.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n