Day By Day

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Buxom Bavarian Beer Garden Barmaid Babes Unprotected in EU -- Sorry, I got carried away there.



About a month ago I noted an impending threat to the glories of German womanhood. The EU was about to institute a ban on the dirndl [pictured above] and other revealing work-related clothing on the grounds that it exposed workers to too much UV radiation. [here]

The ruling sparked a wave of public protest throughout Europe including a British "Save Our Jugs" campaign, one that forced the bureaucrats to "clarify" their order and to specifically exclude waitresses and beer-hall workers. [here]

Now the EU Parliament has finally taken action to save the dirndl.

Reuters reports:
STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - Builders and barmaids working outdoors will not have to be shielded from sunshine by their employers under European Union rules after a revolt by lawmakers on Wednesday.

The European Parliament voted to leave it to individual EU states to regulate whether bosses should have to protect staff from the sun's harmful radiation, in a victory for pro-business conservative, liberal and nationalist deputies.

"It's a great victory for deregulation and less bureaucracy," German conservative Anja Weisgerber told Reuters.

The proposal sparked a frenzy in the British and German tabloid press with warnings that buxom Bavarian beer garden barmaids in low-cut tops and bricklayers with naked torsos would have to cover up, although that was not what the draft law said.

Socialists and Greens argued EU legislation was vital to cut skin cancer rates among outdoor workers, but the right denounced it as an example of the nanny state running amok and over-burdening business.

Read it here.

Just in time for Oktoberfest -- Oh, to be young and in Bavaria for the fest. I remember..., I remember.

This is what the great socialist reform of a century ago has come to.

Sad.

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