Text tabled : A6-0347/2008

  Carl Lang (NI), in writing. – (FR) Europe wants to adorn itself with the regalia of a state. It wants its own anthem, flag, day, currency and motto. We do not want this super-state; we do not want this imposed federalism.

In 2005 the French and Dutch people rejected by referendum the draft European Constitution that incorporated these symbols. In June 2008 it was the Irish who, by rejecting the Lisbon Treaty, again rejected the symbols of this super-state.

It is absolutely scandalous to try to reintroduce them surreptitiously through amendments to the European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure.

The people of Europe have a say in this matter and they must be respected. They also have a duty to remember. In the light of our increasingly globalised societies and economies, we must not forget, now more than ever, who we are, where we come from and what our values and our identities are.

Europe will not be built by negating the history of its peoples and its nations and going against the national realities.