Halloween was hardly the scariest day of October this year. The UK changed their Prime Minister twice in two months, and elections in Brazil created new talking points–to say the least. As always, our team in the Consumer Choice Center has been working tirelessly to defend your rights on every front possible. Before we start, please give us some love on our social media channels because let’s be honest, it is the easiest way to keep up with our work and the team.
Onwards, shall we?
| Greens/EFA Report goes after plant researchers.It fails. | If you have been following us closely, you already know that the EU is determined to set the bar very low in quality for agricultural policies. They constantly turn their backs on innovation and technology for the sake of ideological talking points. Worse, they do it at the expense of everyone else.In this piece, our Research Director Dr Emil Panzaru points out the inconsistencies of the Greens’ response to the agricultural crisis in Europe: “uncontrollable” genetic engineering, “unsafe mutations”, benefits of 100% organic farming, and much more. As Emil says, Europe’s agricultural policies are “less about science than it is about the politics in science.” Check it out here. |
| Press Conference in Brussels Together with the World Vapers’ Alliance, CCC is fighting the good fight for consumers’ lifestyle choices. In October, we had two major events to remember our cause.First, we held a press conference in Brussels to present the results from our survey on Perceptions on Tobacco Harm Reduction and Nicotine in France and Germany. Let me give you two shocking facts here, but you can read more here:Only 3 out of 15 doctors in Germany say they know the term “harm reduction”.69% of smokers in France and 74% of smokers in Germany wrongly believe nicotine causes cancer. |
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| Politicians Are Coming for the App Store |
| On the other side of the world, the Wild West is wildin’ as usual. New legislation and an antitrust lawsuit threaten Apple’s monopoly over its App Store. Our Tech Policy Fellow Satya Marar correctly identifies that “It would also encourage investment in developer start-ups and could lower prices for in-app purchases, including for emerging technologies like NFTs, by allowing developers to circumvent Apple’s commissions through alternative digital payment methods.” Satya also points out to the other unintended consequences of the Open App Markets Act, which may have some negative implications, too. I will leave it to you to find them out in the piece here. |
 Last but not least, our European Railway Station Index is still getting media attention!Inspired by two indices, the European Consumer Airport Index and the European Train Station Index in 2020. We looked at Europe’s 50 largest railway stations and ranked them in terms of passenger experience, crowdedness, and the variety of destinations. Check it out on our website!Also, keep your eyes peeled for this year’s Sharing Economy Index in the upcoming weeks! |
| That is all from us this month! We hope you stay tuned our great work around the world, and please reach out if there are some pressing consumer issues we shouldbe covering. |