ianstone
08-15-2010, 10:32 AM
Fined £150million for failing to fly the EU flag: Now British firms are told how to fight back
By Simon Mcgee (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Simon+Mcgee)
Last updated at 8:50 AM on 15th August 2010
Comments (49) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1303229/Fined-150million-failing-fly-EU-flag-Now-British-firms-told-fight-back.html#comments)
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Business chiefs have issued advice to companies and public bodies on how to escape heavy penalties for failing to display European Union flags after British organisations were fined an astonishing £150 million for not giving the EU enough publicity.
Companies receiving European grants must display its logo on their buildings, posters and websites or face being forced to pay back some of the funding. Now Yorkshire Forward, a regional development agency, has produced an 18-page booklet that advises organisations how to escape the punitive penalties.
The pamphlet details 'approved' versions of the EU flag, instructions on its colour and dimensions, and the precise wording that must accompany the logo. The rules also require building and infrastructure projects to display billboards and plaques praising the EU for providing funds.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/08/15/article-1303229-0ACCAFE8000005DC-825_468x345.jpg Companies receiving European grants must display the EU flag logo on their buildings, posters and websites or face being forced to pay back funding
Each poster or plaque must set aside '25 per cent of the total area' for EU propaganda. They must also include the words: 'Investing in your future.' The Yorkshire Forward booklet also reveals the organisations to have fallen foul of the petty regulations.
Among the projects hit was a £3.5 million refurbishment of Whitley Bay Playhouse in North Tyneside. Some £60,000 of the EU's £626,500 contribution had to be repaid because of 'a number of failings'. Not meeting rules on publicity cost the scheme £16,450 of the total.
The YMCA in Peterborough had to repay £1,325 of a grant to help promote parenting skills, volunteering and sports among young people, again because it fell foul of the strict rules on publicity.
Organisers had not displayed the EU flag at YMCA premises or used it in publicity material.
Last month, it emerged that Brussels bureaucrats had ordered the British Government to collect an astonishing £150 million from organisations and companies because of failures to prominently display the EU flag on premises that were receiving funding.
Critics are particularly appalled as Britain is a £6.4 billion net contributor to the EU budget. Last night, Local Government Minister Bob Neill said: 'It is unfair that local firms, community groups and councils are being punished by EU officials for the most minor breaches of complicated and over-bureaucratic EU rules.
This is a sledgehammer to crack a nut. 'Disadvantaged and needy groups should not lose out because of failing to follow excessive EU propaganda demands to the letter.
'The end result is British taxpayers' money being wasted on bloated design guidelines, form-filling and millions of pounds of red tape.'
A number of other British regional development agencies, which help Whitehall to distribute EU grants, have issued their own guide books to prevent further disqualifications of grants.
Six pages of the Yorkshire guide are devoted to showing how the EU's circle of stars flag should appear on letterheads, Press releases and publicity. The guidelines for commemorative plaques state they 'should be placed where they can be seen by the public and should not be hidden away in obscure locations'.
It adds: 'Reception areas are ideal, as areas by entrances. Plaques should be sized so that they are easily readable.'
And in a stark warning to any recipients of EU funding, it states: 'Project managers are reminded that failure to implement the publicity regulations or implementing them incorrectly could lead to expenditure being declared ineligible, leading to loss of grant on which the project is depending.'
The European Commission was unavailable for comment last night.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1303229/Fined-150million-failing-fly-EU-flag-Now-British-firms-told-fight-back.html#ixzz0wgWWcPx8
By Simon Mcgee (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Simon+Mcgee)
Last updated at 8:50 AM on 15th August 2010
Comments (49) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1303229/Fined-150million-failing-fly-EU-flag-Now-British-firms-told-fight-back.html#comments)
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1303229/Fined-150million-failing-fly-EU-flag-Now-British-firms-told-fight-back.html)
Business chiefs have issued advice to companies and public bodies on how to escape heavy penalties for failing to display European Union flags after British organisations were fined an astonishing £150 million for not giving the EU enough publicity.
Companies receiving European grants must display its logo on their buildings, posters and websites or face being forced to pay back some of the funding. Now Yorkshire Forward, a regional development agency, has produced an 18-page booklet that advises organisations how to escape the punitive penalties.
The pamphlet details 'approved' versions of the EU flag, instructions on its colour and dimensions, and the precise wording that must accompany the logo. The rules also require building and infrastructure projects to display billboards and plaques praising the EU for providing funds.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/08/15/article-1303229-0ACCAFE8000005DC-825_468x345.jpg Companies receiving European grants must display the EU flag logo on their buildings, posters and websites or face being forced to pay back funding
Each poster or plaque must set aside '25 per cent of the total area' for EU propaganda. They must also include the words: 'Investing in your future.' The Yorkshire Forward booklet also reveals the organisations to have fallen foul of the petty regulations.
Among the projects hit was a £3.5 million refurbishment of Whitley Bay Playhouse in North Tyneside. Some £60,000 of the EU's £626,500 contribution had to be repaid because of 'a number of failings'. Not meeting rules on publicity cost the scheme £16,450 of the total.
The YMCA in Peterborough had to repay £1,325 of a grant to help promote parenting skills, volunteering and sports among young people, again because it fell foul of the strict rules on publicity.
Organisers had not displayed the EU flag at YMCA premises or used it in publicity material.
Last month, it emerged that Brussels bureaucrats had ordered the British Government to collect an astonishing £150 million from organisations and companies because of failures to prominently display the EU flag on premises that were receiving funding.
Critics are particularly appalled as Britain is a £6.4 billion net contributor to the EU budget. Last night, Local Government Minister Bob Neill said: 'It is unfair that local firms, community groups and councils are being punished by EU officials for the most minor breaches of complicated and over-bureaucratic EU rules.
This is a sledgehammer to crack a nut. 'Disadvantaged and needy groups should not lose out because of failing to follow excessive EU propaganda demands to the letter.
'The end result is British taxpayers' money being wasted on bloated design guidelines, form-filling and millions of pounds of red tape.'
A number of other British regional development agencies, which help Whitehall to distribute EU grants, have issued their own guide books to prevent further disqualifications of grants.
Six pages of the Yorkshire guide are devoted to showing how the EU's circle of stars flag should appear on letterheads, Press releases and publicity. The guidelines for commemorative plaques state they 'should be placed where they can be seen by the public and should not be hidden away in obscure locations'.
It adds: 'Reception areas are ideal, as areas by entrances. Plaques should be sized so that they are easily readable.'
And in a stark warning to any recipients of EU funding, it states: 'Project managers are reminded that failure to implement the publicity regulations or implementing them incorrectly could lead to expenditure being declared ineligible, leading to loss of grant on which the project is depending.'
The European Commission was unavailable for comment last night.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1303229/Fined-150million-failing-fly-EU-flag-Now-British-firms-told-fight-back.html#ixzz0wgWWcPx8