WRITTEN QUESTION E-1676/02 by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission. The EU's new flag.
Date: 2002-06-12
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU sponsorship, European symbol, consumer society, image, promotion of the European idea, work of art

C 309 E/148

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

12.12.2002

In order to verify whether the interventions of the Region Valle D’Aosta in favour of the Casino comply
with the market economy investor principle the Commission will ask for the Italian authorities to inform it
about the details of such interventions.

(2002/C 309 E/171)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1663/02

by Lousewies van der Laan (ELDR) to the Commission

Subject: Directive 92/14/EEC and noisy ‘Chapter 2’ aeroplanes

(11 June 2002)

Under Article 2 of Directive 92/14/EEC (1) Member States must ensure that from 1 April 2002 aeroplanes
which are not equipped with hushkits, as referred to in Chapter 2 of Annex 16 to the ICAO (International
Civil Aviation Organisation) Convention, cannot operate at airports situated in their territory.

1.

Does the Commission know whether all the Member States are applying this provision?

Is the Commission aware of airports which are at present still authorising such planes to operate?

2.
Which airports are they?

3. What action will the Commission take against the Member States and the airports which in practice
are not applying the directive?

(1) OJ L 76, 23.3.1992, p. 21.

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(1 August 2002)

The Commission has been informed that there are some airports which are not complying fully with
Council Directive 92/14/EEC of 2 March 1992 on the limitation of the operation of aeroplanes covered by
Part II, Chapter 2, Volume 1 of Annex 16 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, second
edition (1988) (1). The Commission is currently examining this information. In particular, it appears that
the authorities in Greece have authorised some Boeing 737 model 200 aeroplanes to operate between
Athens and the island of Rhodes as of 1 April 2002. Consequently, on 17 July 2002, the Commission
decided to send a letter of formal notice to the Greek authorities for failure to comply with Article 2 of
Directive 92/14/EEC.

No airport is allowed to authorise flights with ‘Chapter 2’ aeroplanes. Exemptions may only be granted by
the Member States, and then only within the highly restrictive conditions described in Article 8 of Directive
92/14/EEC. This Article provides for decisions in individual cases according to the characteristics of the
specific flight, which excludes any possibility of airports benefiting from special treatment.

The Commission will continue to ask Member States to inform it of progress in the implementation of this
Directive in their respective territories. As in any other sphere, any failure to fulfil the obligations of the
national authorities could lead to infringement proceedings.

(1) OJ L 76, 23.3.1992.

(2002/C 309 E/172)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1676/02

by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(12 June 2002)

Subject: The EU’s new flag

The Commission President, Romani Prodi, and the Belgian Prime Minister, Guy Verhofstadt, commissioned
the Dutch architect, Rem Koolhaas, to redesign the European flag. Mr Koolhaas’s bar-code-style design of
coloured abstract lines has been widely published in newspapers across Europe.

12.12.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 309 E/149

In an attempt to explain the character of the design and the intentions of the artist, the Architecture
Correspondent of ‘The Independent’ wrote the following in an article entitled ‘King of Kool gives EU a
sharper image’ published on 8 May 2002:

Koolhaas, now pushing 60,
experiencing stylistic meltdown. For him, dogma is out and collages and semiotic games are in.

is tailor-made for the cusp of a millennium in which architecture is

His new EU logo is a perfect example. Why try to blend ideas and signs and architecture together in a
cosy, low-key way when we’re all swimming in a soup of consumerism and what he calls ‘junk space’?
Prada’s New York outlet may have been super-expensively Koolhaas-ified, but that hasn’t stopped him
describing shopping as ‘a dying elephant that in its death throes becomes completely wild and
uncontrollable’.

Koolhaas’ ideas are like his architecture. They veer in smooth mental synchromesh from position to
position, from material to material, and always from the static to the fractured and manoeuvrable.

adding later:

For Koolhaas, there are no pesky boundaries between things, be they ideas or physical structures. His
intellect has the dual-cyclone suction of a Dyson Motorhead vacuum cleaner, and it’s this huge
appetite for the mysterious connective tissues of aesthetics and information that sets him apart.

Does the Commission have any evidence that the majority of European citizens are likely to share the
modern art fraternity’s overwhelming enthusiasm for the design, and does the Commission see acceptance
of it as evidence of a genuine desire to ‘bring Europe closer to the people’?

(2002/C 309 E/173)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1992/02

by Theresa Villiers (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(8 July 2002)

Subject: New EU flag

Does the Commission have any plans to change the current EU flag, i.e., the 12 gold stars on the

1.
blue background?

2.

If yes, why does the Commission feel it is necessary to change?

3. Which alternative designs is the Commission considering? Is the Commission considering a design by
Mr Rem Koolhaas?

Has the Commission calculated how much it would cost to change the current flag, on all the things

4.
it currently features, for example registration plates, stationery, all EU-funded projects?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-1676/02 and E-1992/02
given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(18 July 2002)

The Commission would refer the Honourable Members to its answer to Written Question P-1952/02 by
Mr Posselt (1).

(1) See page 179.