Editorial - A letter to the EU Parliament

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Every time you have rattled off the self-explanatory long list of advantages of the EU because some self-appointed geopolitical expert is once again questioning the existence of the only institution that makes Europe at least somewhat relevant in geopolitical terms, you throw out another one of these proposals. A project, text, proposal that, in its absurdity, can only be explained by a coordinated disinformation campaign developed with the aim of torpedoing trust in the EU.

Not as if these efforts needed your help, as Brexit and the rise of autocannibalistic EU-sceptic parties, which are demonstrably funded by Russia time and time again, should have proved to everyone. But it looks like you don't need any hostile propaganda for that – no, your creativity in inventing and voting for passages that would make even a bona fide EU fan like me throw up his hands and wonder 'what the hell are they doing again' apparently knows no bounds. I don't want to write about hamburgers and sausages. It's ridiculous. But I have to. You're forcing me.

When I first heard about your new meat product definition, I was convinced that someone had once again fallen for a nonsense interpretation that had probably escaped from a Russian troll farm somewhere. One of those fake news stories where a quick search is enough to not only take the wind out of the sails of the presumably duped person, but also to confirm my own faith in the common sense of our elected representatives. But no. It's true. Tragically, it has to be said 'once again': You did exactly the same thing with the chat control debate. But with the sausage debate, the absurdity is not only obvious, but the closer you look, the more the already conceptually twisted text reveals itself to be a farce that can only be described as performative self-parody.