No, the EU is not banning CO2 in drinks
An alleged screenshot from the European Commission website circulating online says that the EU will ban carbon dioxide in soft drinks, beer and mineral water from 2027.
It says that the Commission is doing away with CO2 in drinks to reduce around 400 million tonnes of annual emissions, as part of its "Fit for 55" programme.
Anyone flouting the new rule would be subject to fines of up to €50,000 per litre, according to the supposed webpage.
However, a search of the European Commission's website shows that no such statement exists, and the EU's "Fit for 55" package doesn't include any proposal to ban CO2 in drinks.
"Fit for 55" is a climate and energy initiative designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to levels in 1990.
It "ensures a just and socially fair transition, maintains and strengthens innovation and competitiveness of EU industry while ensuring a level playing field vis-à-vis third country economic operators, and underpins the EU's position as leading the way in the global fight against climate change," according to the European Commission.
Some of its measures include CO2 emissions standards for vehicles, moving towards zero emissions from new cars and vans by 2035, as well as reforming the EU Emissions Trading System and bringing in a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism to place a carbon price on imports of certain goods to prevent carbon leakage and ensure fair competition.
However, there's nothing about banning carbonation in drinks and there's no credible source anywhere else that corroborates the claim.
The screenshot of the alleged commission press release also doesn't fully look the part, showing that it's not real.
In general, it doesn't look like any recent press releases and uses a photo of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen from 2019, rather than a current one.
The photo was taken on 11 December 2019, according to AP, while von der Leyen was giving a statement in relation to the European Green Deal.
Additionally, in the alleged screenshot, the Commission's logo is blurred and low-resolution, and certain elements seen in real press releases are missing, such as the language selection box and a publication date.
There's also a typo in the headline: "Kommission" is supposed to be spelt with two Ss, and its official name in German is the Europäische Kommission, not the Europa Kommission.
EU initiatives are often the target of misinformation campaigns, as the measures contained within are either misinterpreted or deliberately exaggerated to whip up hysteria.
EuroVerify previously debunked a similar false claim that the EU is on its way to banning coffee after labelling caffeine as dangerous for human consumption.
A Russian missile strike on an apartment building in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv was a sign that more pressure must be put on Moscow to agree to a ceasefire, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday, as Moscow intensifies attacks in the war.
The drone and missile attack on Kyiv early Tuesday, the deadliest assault on the capital this year, killed 28 people across the city and wounded 142 others, Kyiv Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said.
Zelenskyy, along with the head of the presidential office, Andrii Yermak, and Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, visited the site of the apartment building in Kyiv's Solomianskyi district on Thursday morning, laying flowers and paying tribute to the 23 people who died there after a direct hit by a missile brought down the structure.
"This attack is a reminder to the world that Russia rejects a ceasefire and chooses killing," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram, and thanked Ukraine's partners who he said are ready to pressure Russia to "feel the real cost of the war."
Tuesday's attack on Kyiv was part of a sweeping barrage as Russia once again sought to overwhelm Ukrainian air defences.
Russia fired more than 440 drones and 32 missiles in what Zelenskyy called one of the biggest bombardments of the war.
As Russia proceeds with a summer offensive on parts of the roughly 1,000-kilometre front line, US-led peace efforts have failed to gain traction.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has effectively rejected an offer from US President Donald Trump for an immediate 30-day ceasefire, making it conditional on a halt on Ukraine's mobilisation effort and a freeze on Western arms supplies.
Meanwhile, Middle East tensions and US trade tariffs have drawn away world attention from Ukraine's pleas for more diplomatic and economic pressure to be placed on Moscow.
In recent weeks, Russia has intensified long-range attacks that have struck urban residential areas. Yet on Wednesday, Putin denied that his military had struck such targets, saying that attacks were "against military industries, not residential quarters."
Putin told senior news leaders of international news agencies in St. Petersburg that he was open to talks with Zelenskyy, but repeated his accusation that the Ukrainian leader had lost his legitimacy after his term expired last year.
"We are ready for substantive talks on the principles of a settlement," Putin said, noting that a previous round of talks in Istanbul had led to an exchange of prisoners and the bodies of fallen soldiers.
A new round of such exchanges took place in Ukraine's Chernihiv region on Thursday, involving the repatriation of Ukrainian prisoners of war who, according to Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War (KSHPPV), were suffering from severe health issues caused by injuries and prolonged detention.
The exchange was confirmed by Russia's Defence Ministry, which released a video of Russian servicemen at an exchange area in Belarus after being released in the prisoner swap.
Commenting on the exchange, Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram: "We are working to get our people back. Thank you to everyone who helps make these exchanges possible. Our goal is to free each and every one."
Many of the exchanged Ukrainian POWs had spent over three years in captivity, with a large number captured during the defines of the now Russian-occupied city of Mariupol in 2022, according to the KSHPPV, which added that preparations for another prisoner exchange are ongoing.
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