In the near future, under newly proposed laws in Germany, purposefully damaging “the symbols of the European Union” could result in a fine or a prison term of up three years.
German lawmakers in Saxony have moved to pass fresh legislation which seeks to “to take firm and effective action against those whose aim is to disparage the fundamental values of the European Union” by way of attacking “the reputation of the symbols of the European Union”, the German regional newspaper Saabrücker Zeitung reports.
If approved by the German parliament, the law would make rendering the EU flag – a circle of twelve five-pointed gold stars laid over a blue background – either “removed, destroyed, damaged, unusable or unrecognizable” a criminal offense which is punishable by a fine or a three-year jail sentence.
Proponents of the newly proposed law claim that while “the right to objective or legitimate criticism” will continue to be protected, the EU flag represents “a commandment of self-esteem” which Germany, as one of the founding members of the supranational organization, seeks to “protect against malicious contempt”.
The law also seeks to guard against any disparaging of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy – a song from the final movement of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony – which has appropriated to serve as the organizational anthem of the Council of Europe and the European Union.
The new legislative proposal comes on the heels of a similar move made by the widely despised arch globalist Emmanuel Macron, which made the display of the EU flag mandatory inside all of France’s classrooms at both public and private academic institutions, earlier in this year, according to a Euronews report.
National populist leader Marine Le Pen – who recently called on Macron to step down from his post after he and his centrist party were rejected by the French people in last month’s EU elections – has criticized his efforts to “impose this flag in the schools of our children,” as she put it.
Prominent figures on France’s populist left have also been critical of the new law.
Michel Larive, a member of the democratic socialist, left-wing populist party La France Insoumise (Unbowed France), complained that EU flags were already present outside of schools, and this should be enough to show “respect for the homeland without veering towards nationalism”.
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