The Danish newspaper BT revealed the costs of designing a new logo for Denmark’s presidency of the Council of the European Union, which continues until the end of this year, and addressed sharp criticism and a wave of controversy over how taxpayers’ money is being used.
The newspaper revealed that the Danish government spent 125,000 Danish kroner (about 18,000 US dollars) on designing the logo, despite the existence of a unified logo for the European Union that could have been used.
According to the newspaper, Professor Bent Greve, a professor of social sciences, described the move as “a strange use of citizens” money,“ saying: ”It is always a matter of evaluation, but it does not seem sensible to spend 125,000 kroner on a logo, especially since there is a logo of the European Union that could have been used.”.
He added in his interview with BT newspaper: “That slogan is already known, and the added value of a new slogan can be debated, especially since the content of the activities is the most important.”.
Greif also expressed his surprise at the amount of spending, and stressed that the new logo design may not be of real added value to the European project.
Additional costs for translation
The documents obtained by the newspaper through the Freedom of Information Act also showed that the Foreign Office spent 94,569 Danish kroner on translating the content of the presidential website into English and French.
In this context, Professor Greve told BT: “It is difficult to assess whether the translation could have been done internally by government employees rather than by hiring external consultants, but given the desire to reduce reliance on consultants in the public sector, this was likely a more sensible option.”.
No direct response from the responsible minister
Regarding the official position, the newspaper reported that it tried to get a response from the Minister for European Affairs, Marie Bjerre, who belongs to the Venstre party, and asked her if she thought the spending on the logo was justified, but the newspaper stated that it did not receive a direct response from her.
Instead, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Udenrigsministeriet) issued a statement saying: “All EU presidencies have their own logos, which contribute to the narrative of how member states take over leadership in rotation.” Despite the criticism, the ministry emphasized that it had done everything possible to reduce the logo design costs.
Interior design to save money
The ministry told BT that the logo was designed internally in collaboration with the ministry’s permanent graphic services provider, adding: “We chose to develop the logo internally with the contribution of the permanent graphic services provider, which provided a simpler and less expensive solution compared to organizing a major logo design competition through design agencies.”.
Extravagant celebrations in Aarhus
Denmark's official assumption of the EU presidency on July 1st coincided with the organization of a "European Street Festival" in Aarhus, where events cost millions of kroner, which also drew criticism for the use of taxpayers' money on celebratory events, according to BT.
