Nederland presenteert logo voorzitterschap (en)

The Dutch government has unveiled its Presidency logo in the run up to its stint at the helm of the EU in the second half of this year.

The colours of the Dutch national flag - red, white and blue - together with orange, the famous Dutch royalty and football colour, make up the logo which was presented to the press on Thursday (22 January).

Yesterday also marked the start of the `Europe Year' campaign in the Netherlands - a campaign to inform Dutch citizens about big events in the EU such as enlargement.

It will go under the prosaic slogan of "Europe. Quite Important" (Europa. Best Belangrijk).

State Secretary for European Affairs Atzo Nicolaï said the campaign would not be "an easy and positive story".

He added that the government wants Dutch citizens to gain a fair picture about both the advantages and the disadvantages of the EU.

The Dutch government will invest two million euro in the `Europe year' campaign this year.