Brussels, 12/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission, speaking through spokesperson Frédéric Vincent, admitted that it had committed a “blunder” by giving its approval to the distribution of a diary targeted at schoolchildren in the European Union which does not list any Christian festivals, even though the festivals of other religions are included. “There was no downstream change, this was a 'blunder' on the part of the Commission. We must revise this text for the next edition”, the spokesperson acknowledged. The mistake will be corrected for the next edition, but there are no plans to withdraw from circulation copies of the current edition, as some people have requested. “It is a good diary and very useful”, Vincent added. A number of members of the European Parliament have voiced their surprise. The chair of the Christian Democrat Party (CDP), Christine Boutin, saw fit to express her indignation in a letter to the president of the Commission, José Manuel Barroso. She cannot accept this “oversight”, stressing that “the role of the Christian religion in the formation of Europe is an undeniable historical fact”. “Human dignity and liberty, equality and brotherhood are all Christian values”, the French EPP members, Philippe Juvin and Constance Le Grip, pointed out in a joint press release. Commissioner John Dalli gave a personal reaction in a letter to the Commission from the Bishops' Conferences in the European Community (COMECE), which had objected to the matter in hand, describing this “strange omission” as “just astonishing”, according to its spokesperson, Johanna Touzel. “It has come to my attention that the current edition of the diary does not refer to those religious holidays and events, such as Christmas, that are of European heritage. I very much regret this incoherence and am taking immediate action”, Dalli replied.
The diary has been published for the last seven years by DG Health and Consumers, in partnership with the other DGs and the Economic and Social Committee, and is designed for schoolchildren aged between 12 and 16 years. It is sent to schools which request it, on a “first come first served” basis. So far 3.2 million copies of the 2010-2011 edition have been distributed, costing the Community budget €5 million. The specific nature of this diary is that its first 40 pages include information about the European Union in various areas which may be of interest to young people. (I.L./transl.fl)