The British tradition of stamping pint & half-pint glasses has now fallen victim to the extension of the EU's tentacles into national life & the demise of UK manufacturing with the introduction of a standard EU-wide system for guaranteeing the size & safety of glasses. New glasses now appearing in British pubs & bars carry the European Conformity, CE mark. The Campaign for Real Ale said the use of the crown stamp has been killed off by stealth, regardless of EU rules, as a direct result of the contraction of British manufacturing. The manufacture of most pub glasses has been shifted to the Czech Republic, where costs are much lower. Consequently, the glasses coming out of these factories automatically get the CE mark, even if they are an imperial pint. Camra is concerned that beer drinkers have been getting short measures on their pints for many years, regardless of whether the glasses have a crown stamp. It is fighting plans by the DTI to allow publicans to serve 95% liquid & call this a full pint without being prosecuted. Although there are still plenty of crown-stamped pint glasses around, they are no longer being produced, so once the last one gets broken, the crown on the glass will be consigned to history.
