A new design for a €2 coin featuring a map of a European battle is proving divisive in Brussels.
The design shows an image of the Lion Hill memorial at Waterloo, near Brussels. It was submitted by Belgium to commemorate the battle fought there on 18 June 1815.
But one member of the European Union thinks it is in rather poor taste.
In a letter of objection, the French government argues the design contains a "negative" symbol for some Europeans.
The letter contends that the Battle of Waterloo, in which Napoleon was defeated, is an event with particular resonance in the European collective memory and goes beyond being just an instance of military conflict.
The coins could prompt an unfavourable reaction in France, the letter warns, at just the time that eurozone governments are trying to strengthen unity and co-operation.
'Fuss in Paris'
Not everyone agrees that Waterloo is laden with so much meaning in the 21st Century, reports the BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels.
One diplomat expressed surprise that "two centuries later a proposal for some loose change with an image of a hill on it can cause such a fuss in Paris," our correspondent adds.
Belgium must now decide whether it is willing to withdraw or amend the design.
If it chooses to stick with it as it is, there will be a majority vote among members of the eurozone on whether the new coin should be minted.
Well, there's nothing to stop the French striking their own commemorative coin to remember some famous French victory.
Can't think of any, but I'm sure there must be some.
God has no place within these walls, just like facts have no place within organized religion. - Superintendent Chalmers
It's not up to us to choose which laws we want to obey. If it were, I'd kill everyone who looked at me cock-eyed! - Rex Banner
The Bluebird of Happiness long absent from his life, Ned is visited by the Chicken of Depression. - Gary Larson
My daughter is off to Belgium for three weeks on a sort of work experience thing with a potter over there. We went in to change some Sterling into Euros for her today.
Rum wrote:My daughter is off to Belgium for three weeks on a sort of work experience thing with a potter over there. We went in to change some Sterling into Euros for her today.
Lost and lots of Euros for not so many pounds!
..and we have Darwin on our bank notes!
Get her to visit Waterloo, then make a commemorative pot!
JimC wrote:Perhaps a Euro coin commemorating the genocide of the Neanderthals?
All the ancestors of modern Europeans participated, with the odd bit of miscegenation thrown in...
I have my doubts about that. I think the Neanderthals were starved to near extinction by climate change and then the few that were left interbred with the people coming out of Africa.
If only the Neanderthals had struck oil, they might still be here today.
A lesson for us all, I think.
While there is a market for shit, there will be assholes to supply it.
I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops. - Stephen J. Gould
