Mostly true: „Between 25.000 to 30.000 lobbyists“ are working in Brussels

In an article on the Viennese online news portal, www.vienna.at, Julia Herr, Austrian Social Democratic Party candidate for the European parliament election, was recently quoted, that there were supposedly „between 25.000 to 30.000 lobbyists“ working in Brussels. According to the article, Herr had made this claim on March 5th, 2019 during a discussion on the…

False: “The increased homophobia in The Netherlands is caused by uncontrolled immigration and open borders”

  On March the 4th Dutch leader of the right-wing Forum for Democracy Thierry Baudet reacted to a statement by liberal politician Rob Jetten about homophobia in The Netherlands. Baudet stated on Twitter: ,,Jetten’s anger about the increased homophobia in The Netherlands is justified, but he doesn’t see the causes: the uncontrolled immigration and the…

fact-check uncheckable

Uncheckable: “The addendum to the EU-Morocco Agreement does not comply with the decision made by the EU Court of Justice”

On 15 January 2019, Merja Kyllönen, the Member of the European Parliament, questioned the legality of the EU-Morocco Agreement in her tweet. According to her, an addendum to the agreement does not comply with the decision made by the Court of Justice of the European Union regarding the adjacent waters of Western Sahara. The claim…

fact checking

Mostly false: “Sign EU-petition to stop punishment of aid to migrants”

Reinier van Lanschot, party leader of the new, pan-European party Volt – and probable new member of the European Parliament – claims on Twitter that migrant aid is punished in several European member states. Subsequently, he asks his followers to sign a European citizen initiative to make an end to this. However, punishment of migrant…

fact-check uncheckable

Uncheckable: “Finland has the loosest family reunification policy of all the Nordic countries”

On 21 January, Finnish parliament member Olli Immonen stated in his blog that “Finland currently has the loosest asylum policy in the Nordic countries when it comes to, for example, family reunification.” Our research shows that norms and practices related to asylum policies are so complex that it is not possible to make a reliable…

fact checking

Mostly false: “Travelling circus of the European Parliament from Brussels to Strasbourg costs 200 million euros annually”

On their website, the Belgian party N-VA (member of the European Conservatives and Reformists) has stated that the monthly move of the European Parliament (EP) between Brussels and Strasbourg costs the European taxpayers 200 million euros per year. A lot of money which according to N-VA is anything but an example of good governance. The…