Being accused of 'making it up as he went along' did not dissuade Boris Johnson from making false claims about EU red tape up until his election as prime minister (Photo: UK in Japan FCO)

Feature

The real story why 'bonkers Brussels' went bananas

EU & the World

by Alexander Fanta, Brussels,

Being accused of 'making it up as he went along' did not dissuade Boris Johnson from making false claims about EU red tape up until his election as prime minister (Photo: UK in Japan FCO)

More than one journalist has dreams about creating a narrative so powerful it outlasts the present and shapes the public perception about an institution.

Few stories about the EU have been as persistent over the past decades as the tale of the 'bendy banana law', which first made its appearance in the UK in a story in The Sun in September 1994.

According to the article written by journalist Lucinda Evans, "Brussels bureaucrats" created a pointless law that would "outlaw curbed ba...