Mostly true: “Decline in insect populations is a big environmental risk that should be studied more, also in Finland.”

On 12 February 2019 the Finnish Member of Parliament and candidate in the European elections, Ville Niinistö, tweeted that decline in insect populations form a large environmental risk. An additional tweet linked to an article published by the Finnish national broadcasting company YLE concerning the subject. Niinistö also claimed that the presumed decline should be…

Mostly true: “An active Croatian judge can participate in the upcoming European Elections”

In a television interview one Croatian Commercial Court judge Mislav Kolakušić announced his plans to stand as a candidate in the upcoming European Elections. The statement raised the question whether Kolakušić, being an active judge, has the right to do so. We examined national and EU laws and regulations on political participation of judges which…

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…

Mostly true: “62% of greenhouse gas emissions released during extraction, processing and manufacturing”

The claim is backed by an actual study, but experts suggest the exact percentages are difficult to determine. On 23 January 2019, Mari Pantsar, the Director of carbon-neutral circular economy of Sitra, a Finnish Innovation Fund, claimed on Twitter: “A 1.5 degree world can only be “circular.” That’s why the #circulareconomy has to be placed…

Mostly true: “Foods within the European Union are traceable all along the supply chain”

At a press conference on July 11, 2018, the European Commission stated: “Foods within the European Union are traceable all along the supply chain.” This assertion is partly true. This was a response to Thilo Bode, founder of the non-governmental organization Foodwatch, which fights for consumer protection; he had questioned the president of the European…