Never mind the crumbling welfare state - it's got to be *catchy*

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The EU has launched a new initiative to try and re-brand itself as the cooler, hipper collection of nation-states on the block.

A new slogan for Europe

Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, will this week launch a "new slogan for Europe" competition aimed at re-invigorating the stalled European integration project.

Francis Gutmann, who heads the European parliament's public events department said: "A logo and slogan competition for young European designers will be launched on July 6. We will reach everyone via a website and there will be a cash prize for the winner."

The winning entry will be rolled out during the EU's golden jubilee celebrations next year, together with a new logo to replace the blue EU flag with its ring of gold stars (it represented "perfection, completeness and unity").

On March 25 next year, the Treaty of Rome, on which the EU is founded, will be 50 years old. European leaders will be using the occasion to rebrand their supranational model of government.

Because this is Europe, and God forbid any decision be made which quickly or at risk of offending anyone, you know that the winning suggestion will be decided on by a committee consisting of representatives of every country, including at least one Parisian who insists that the logo be translated into French and include a subsidy for French farmers.

However, I've been thinking of a few suggestions:

  • The EU: Less unified than you might think. More unified than you might wish
  • Europe: We've got more castles than Disney World
  • Now with extra VAT!
  • Europe: We make the best cheese
  • Bureaucratic by design. Ineffective by happy accident.
  • Europe: We won't let Dick Cheney hunt here

    And my current favorite:

  • The EU: We hate France too