THE DAY IN POLITICS / (eu) ep/european hymn

07/06/2004 (Agence Europe) - CSU elected representative Ingo Friedrich is launching a competition, from 7 June to 19 July, on the text for a European hymn. The music already exists - Beethoven's Ode to Joy - he recalls in a press release, although he considers that the verses by Schiller which accompany the music should now be replaced by a specific text. The words, Mr Friedrich says, should be "simple and convincing", four to five stanza long and four to six lines at most. The passages in which Schiller states that all men are brothers should be included, Mr Friedrich says. The winner, chosen by jury, will receive an invitation for two to a session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. (Ingo Friedrich, Bühringer Strasse 12, 91710 Gunzenhausen. Tel.: [phone]. E-mail: [e-mail]).