Britons urged to take EU pub quiz

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
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It comes as no surprise that in Britain, widely regarded as the most anti-EU country, the annual Europe Day goes largely unnoticed (it was on Saturday apparently, and it was celebrated across Europe except in Britain, where millions of people were completely oblivious to it).

So to get disinterested Brits more interested in Europe Day, the EU has come up with an "ingenious" plan.

The pub quiz is one of the most popular pastimes in Britain, so EU officials have come up with a pub quiz-style quiz on the EU.

Questions include: What is the EU's largest country in land area? (France)

What is the EU's longest river? (Danube)

Which EU state is known as Suomi in its own language? (Finland)

What year did the Channel Tunnel, between Britain and France, open? (1994)

EU officials hope that pub teams across Great Britain will now rise to the challenge.

I think they may be mistaken if this will get Brits more interested in the EU.


Britons urged to take EU pub quiz

European Union officials have enlisted one of Britain's most popular pastimes, the pub quiz, in their battle to win over the British public.

By Chris Hastings
09 May 2009
The Telegraph


The office of the European Parliament in London has devised a special quiz to try and get Britons to celebrate Europe Day


The office of the European Parliament in London has devised a special quiz to celebrate Europe Day, an annual celebration which was marked across the continent on Saturday.

Questions include: How many staff does the European Commission employ? How many time zones are there in the European Union? What is EU's guiding principle which means decisions should be taken as close to the citizen as possible?

Officials hope that pub teams across the country will now rise to the challenge.

The quiz comes complete with 10 rounds of 10 questions, score cards, and even tie-breaker questions. Every round is about the EU and Europe, with titles including "A-Z of the EU", "Words and languages" and "Connecting the continent".

To score full marks, competitors need an in-depth knowlege of EU bureacracy.

One question in the general knowledge round asks the name of the document which replaced the E111 health form in 2006; the correct answer is the European Health Insurance Card.

In the A-Z round, participants must identify the term, starting with "Q", which refers to the system of allocating votes in the council of ministers to members states according to their population; the answer is Qualified Majority Voting.

In the statistics round, participants must say what percentage of Europeans live in cities (80 per cent) and name the country with the largest land mass (France).

The "Alphabet soup" round focuses on European food and drink. Contestants are asked what "E" is another name for aubergine (eggplant), what "C" is a Spanish sausage (chorizo) and what "P" is a red powder used to flavour Hungarian goulash (paprika).

The quiz is one of a number of ideas dreamt up to mark this year's Europe Day, an event which has been on the calendar for decades but which goes unoticed in Britain.

This year's celebrations have included a two-week-long London Festival of Europe, featuring "Flaneurs San Frontieres", a discussion on walking as an artistic and political practice.

The European Parliament office in the UK also produced an activity book to encourage children to celebrate the big day by learning foreign language translations of Harry Potter characters, singing songs of European origin and acting out scenes from plays by Moliere or Beaumarchais.

Europe Day comemorates the Schuman Declaration of 9 May, 1950, which led to the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, the forerunner of the European Union.
______________________________

The 27 EU states are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

The EU has a population of 500 million and is the world's largest economy ($18 trillion).

Its capital is Brussels.

It has 23 official languages.

Its motto is "United in Diversity" and its anthem is "Ode to Joy."

Its president (unelected, of course) is Manuel Barroso.

Seven of the states are constitutional monarchies: Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.

EU Pub Quiz: the questions

Here are a sample of the questions that competitors taking part in the new European Union Pub Quiz can expect to have to answer.


09 May 2009
The Telegraph


A – Z of the EU
What "M" is a French politician, born in 1888 in Cognac, now regarded as the chief architect of the European Unity?
What "O" is the office whose role is to protect the financial interests of the European Union, to fight fraud, corruption and any other irregular activity, including misconduct within the European Institutions?
What "S" is the guiding European principle which means decisions should be taken as close to the citizen as possible?
What "T" is a Russian word meaning a collection of three of any kind, including, in EU parlance, the grouping of the country currently holding the Presidency and its immediate predecessor and successor?

Words and Languages
Which European country is known as Suomi in its own language?
What is the derivation of the word "whisky"?
What is the English equivalent to these onomatopoeic slogans, and what product are they used to market? Spanish: Pim, Pum, Pam! German: Knisper! Knasper! Knusper! Swedish: Riks! Raks! Poks! Dutch: Pif! Paf! Pof!

Making History
In what year was the Treaty of Rome signed?
In what year did the UK held a referendum on its membership of the EEC?
In what year, and where, was the first Eurovision Song Contest?

Statistics
How many countries does the EU currently have?
Which country has the most holidays in Europe, and which country has the fewest?
How many staff are employed by the European Commission?

General Knowledge
What is the European emergency number?
What replaced the health form E111 in January 2006, giving the holder the right to state medical treatment during temporary visits to EEA countries and Switzerland?

Connecting the Continent
What is the longest river in the EU and how many EU countries does it flow through?
In what year did the Channel Tunnel open?
Name the Italian cities where the following airports are located: Leonardo da Vinci? Galileo Galilei? Amerigo Vespucci?

Tie-breakers
How many countries founded, in the 1950s, what has now become the European Union?
Tesco is a major supermarket and hypermarket in five EU countries. Can you name three of them?
It promotes co-operation between broadcasters, facilitates the exchange of audio-visual content and is most famous for the Eurovision Song Contest. What is it?



telegraph.co.uk
 
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Johnnny

Frontiersman
Jun 8, 2007
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Third rock from the Sun
Like in Quebec, they wont Buy Molsen Canadian, but will just drink Molson Export..... Even though it tastes the same.. And the same Quebecois that told me that never celebrated Canada Day until last year.

I hate the EU too
 

Scott Free

House Member
May 9, 2007
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I can understand the Englishman's hesitation to celebrate Europe since that channel has transported hoards and rabble of all kinds to their shores over history. This the latest invasion attempt is probably worth resisting too.
 

Dexter Sinister

Unspecified Specialist
Oct 1, 2004
10,168
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Regina, SK
Maybe the Brits just feel like Groucho Marx, who reportedly said he wouldn't want to belong to any club that would have him as a member.