DISINFORMATION: The EU deprives Romanians of their freedom of movement

NARRATIVE: The European Union wants to restrict its citizens’ freedom of movement, while at the same time destroying Romania’s economy.

BACKGROUND: The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has become a concern among researchers as early as the 1950s. Starting 1958, the level of CO2 has been subject to regular measurements, which revealed an average annual increase in its concentration in the atmosphere. According to data published by Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, in 2021 CO2 stood at 149% compared to the preindustrial era. As a result, experts are concerned that, in the near future, ecosystems across continents and oceans will no longer have the capacity to effectively absorb the surplus of generated CO2, and to act as a buffer against the increase in global temperatures. Accordingly, the fight against global warming has become essential, a topic of major interest to the majority of the world population, which is seeking to radically curb its carbon footprint.

In this respect, the European Union set out to turn Europe into the first climate neutral continent. Therefore, all the 27 EU Member States pledged their commitment to reach this goal by 2050.

One of the sectors all stakeholders will be focusing on is transport. New standards regarding the CO2 emissions of all means of transport will be implemented with a view to creating a transport infrastructure with zero emissions, both for short and long travels. Moreover, starting 2027, road transport will be subject to the commercialization of emission certificates, meaning there will be a price for pollution that will encourage the use of less polluting fuels. Authorities are also expected to invest in clean technologies. A price on carbon will be levied also in the fields of air and maritime travel. Prior to 2024, airliners operating flights to Europe were supposed to submit permits on the EU carbon marked in order to cover their carbon dioxide emissions. Most of these (over 80%) were however issued by the European community free of charge. In an attempt to ramp up pressure on the air travel sector in order to discourage the use of fossil fuels, the European Parliament decided to gradually reduce the number of free carbon permits, by 25% in 2024 and by 50% in 2025, before their full elimination by 2026. This means air travel operators will now have to purchase CO2 permits, being more interested to look for less polluting solutions, which will in turn likely lead to an increase of plane tickets.

PURPOSE: To undermine societal trust in the authorities, foster anti-European rhetoric, stir up and amplify social unrest in order to boost approval ratings.

WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: The idea of introducing a “carbon passport” emerged in the autumn of 2023, mentioned in a report of Intrepid Travel, an Australian company specializing in tourism addressing small groups of people, which are likely to use public transportation or book accommodation with locals. The report introduced the concept of “personal carbon allowances” that would force people to ration their carbon to a maximum of 2.3 tons each year, “in line with the global carbon budget”, with a view to limiting the individual carbon footprint. In the field of tourism, the measure would entail restricting the number of air travels for each individual within a year, to the equivalent of taking a round-trip from Rio de

Janeiro, Brazil, to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia or two round trips to London or New York. Therefore, the concept has nothing to do with the European Union, not does it feature on any agenda of European agencies.

Deliberate or not, the confusion seems to have been caused by the “Digital Product Passport” (DPP), a document regulated as early as 2022. The passport will provide information about the sustainability of products, by scanning a data support, and will include specifics regarding durability, reparability, recyclability or the availability of spare parts. It is designed to help consumers and businesses to make informed decisions when comparing products, to facilitate repairs and recycling and improve transparency regarding the environment impact of a product’s life cycle. In addition, the digital product passport is also supposed to help public authorities carry out inspections and checks. At first, the legal obligation of owning a DPP will apply to batteries in 2026, followed by clothing and appliances at a later stage. Eventually, 30 categories of products will require a DPP, and the timetable for implementation is 2026-2030.

The idea of introducing personal carbon quotas is not new. A similar concept was discussed by the British Parliament in 2008, and talks were suspended in start-up phase due to the complexity of implementing such a measure, and particularly due to the possibility of society opposing it. Moreover, in the event such a document becomes compulsory, it is quite obvious it would not restrict people’s freedom of movement, but only the number of flights they can take every year. In addition, restricting the number of tourist flights cannot have a significant impact on the transport of goods, and at no rate will it affect Romanian transporters, once adopted at community level.

GRAIN OF TRUTH: Some European countries have started taking measures in order to reduce traveling by plane: starting April 1, 2023, passengers flying over short distances or using older aircraft have to pay more, in order to encourage them to consider alternative travel operations. France too has banned domestic flights over short-distances, considering the same trip takes two and a half hours or less by rail.