mr president i am somewhat surprised at the storm in a teacup that this change to our rules of procedure has provoked in some quarters
we know that the member states decided some time ago not to elevate the european flag and anthem to treaty status
they decided not to give them such an elevated status but to leave them with their current status
what is their current status
they are simply recognised by the institutions
the european council did so as long ago as nineteen eighty-five
by the way mrs thatcher was a member of the european council then
i see some of her admirers are now repudiating her decision
i must say that i myself had some hesitation about adopting a symbol chosen by mrs thatcher as the flag of the european union
however in the spirit of all-party compromise and consensus i am willing to accept it
that is the status the flag and anthem were given recognition by the institutions
there is however an anomaly
we the european parliament have never actually recognised them in our rules
it is quite logical that we tidy up this anomaly and put a reference to the flag in our rules of procedure
how people can make such a fuss about such an obvious thing to do about such a normal procedure which respects the decisions of the member states not to elevate it to treaty status i do not know
but then the ways of working of the eurosceptics not least in my own country have always been a bit of a mystery
when you see that this flag has been around for many years if you saw the european supporters at the ryder cup when europe played america at golf just a couple of months ago where people who probably included conservative eurosceptics were waving the european flag it really does look a little ridiculous when they now make such a fuss about this reasonable change to our rules of procedure
