Brussels - The European Union (EU) has no plans to abolish England, officials in Brussels insisted after two British newspapers accused the EU of wanting to "wipe England off the map."
"There are no secret plans to carve up the continent in a way that makes England disappear. There is no goal of creating a United States of Europe," a European Commission spokeswoman said.
The comments came after two popular British tabloids, the Sun and the Daily Mail, celebrated the day of England's national saint, St George, by revealing the existence of "EU plots to carve up Britain."
"Secret plans" drawn up in Brussels included maps "wiping out" England and the English name of the body of water separating Britain from Europe, "the English Channel," in favour of the unpatriotic "Channel Sea," the papers claimed.
Reproductions of the maps provided by the newspapers divided Britain into "North Sea," "Atlantic" and "Trans-Manche" regions - the latter referring to the French name for the Channel, "la Manche."
"The words 'England' and 'Britain' are left off official maps of each area," the Daily Mail stormed, accusing the British government of being "fully behind the project" nevertheless.
But EU officials denied absolutely the existence ...   more »