On February 12, 2026, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, spoke at the press conference following the EU Leaders Retreat at Alden Castle in Biesen, Belgium. She said: “The emission trading system has clear benefits. It has been introduced in 2005 and since then the emissions have gone down by 39%. The…
On February 6, 2026, the European Commission issued a press release regarding TikTok’s allegedly addictive design. The release quotes Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice President for Technological Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy: “Social media addiction can have detrimental effects on the developing minds of children and teens. The Digital Services Act makes platforms responsible for the effects…
On 5 March 2026, Roxana Mînzatu, Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness, made the following statement during a European Commission press conference: “Closing the gender gap in employment could mean an extra 10% in EU GDP per capita and creating more than 10 million jobs…
“Europe is warming faster than the rest of the world, even up to twice as fast.” This is often said in the media and in international reports. The statement is not made up; it is supported by organizations such as the Copernicus climate program and reports from the UN climate panel. But the reality is…
On Wednesday 28 January 2026, during the plenary session of the Flemish Parliament, MP Mieke Schauvliege (Groen) stated that Flemish rivers are the dirtiest rivers in Europe. According to Schauvliege, Flanders is facing a “gigantic PFAS problem that is making drinking water way too expensive.” Speaking on behalf of the Flemish green party Groen, she…
The statement to be reviewed originates from the website of the fashion company SHEIN and refers to its publicly communicated efforts in the area of climate protection and decarbonisation: “Our operational teams and supply chain partners are working to reduce the environmental footprint of our products and facilities.” Despite the statement being mostly true, it…
During the plenary session of the German Bundestag on 9 July 2025, Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) stated: “Germany accounts for approximately 1 percent of the world’s population. We account for roughly 2 percent of the problem in terms of CO₂ emissions. Even if we were all climate-neutral in Germany tomorrow, not a single natural…
On September 18th 2025, Svenja Schulze, a member of the German Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party (SPD), made the following statement during the second reading of the 2025 federal budget: “Every two minutes, a person in Germany becomes a victim of domestic violence. Last year alone, there were more than 265,000 affected individuals.” This…
Do Private Jet users emit more CO₂ than a small city in Central Africa? On 7 November 2024, the BBC released a report analysing the environmental implications of private aviation by the ultra-rich and the disproportionate scale of its carbon footprint. In that report, Professor Stefan Gössling, from Sweden’s Linnaeus University, says that the emissions…
In a letter dated June 25, 2024, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen claimed: “Many Member States are looking at innovative strategies to prevent irregular migration by tackling asylum applications further from the EU’s external borders.” However, a closer examination shows that very few countries are actively pursuing such plans and concrete results are…