To recall, last October, the European Parliament amended its Rules of Procedure in order to provide official character to the EU flag, the anthem and motto in its activities and premises. The European Parliament has stressed “the importance of symbols for reconnecting the citizens with the European Union and for building a European identity which is complementary to the national identities of the Member States.” The citizens from all EU Member States do not identify with the EU just because the EU flag fly in all European Parliament premises, and meeting rooms and not just the plenary chamber, the motto 'United in diversity' is reproduced on all European Parliament’s official documents, and the anthem, Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy', is to be performed at the opening of each constitutive sitting and at formal sittings.
The Constitutional Treaty would have made the use of the EU symbols legally biding but the EU leaders have agreed not including them in the Lisbon Treaty.
On 13 July, a special ceremony marked the opening of the 2009-2014 European Parliament term. The Daily Telegraph reports: “Federalists have been accused of hijacking the official opening of the new European Parliament session after soldiers raised the EU flag to the tune of Europe's official anthem Ode to Joy.”
According to Timothy Kirkhope "The parliament should focus on its efforts to increase democracy and accountability in the EU, rather than its attempt to create a federal Europe." Moreover, he said "These displays are Europe attempting to take upon itself a character that the vast majority of its citizens do not want." Read the full article here.
