If the plan is approved it would force Britain’s 500-strong merchant fleet to superimpose the European flag, with 12 gold stars and dark blue background, on part of the Red Ensign, the symbol of a ship’s British nationality.

Ferries, passenger vessels, and possibly even fishing boats, would also be covered by the new requirement which threatens centuries of British naval tradition.

The proposal was approved by 27 votes to 22 by the Parliament’s Transport and Regional Affairs Committee this week, provoking broadsides from Conservative MEPs.

“This is another attempt to force the EU identity on member states,” said Jacqueline Foster, the Tory Euro-group transport spokesman. “This flag is creeping everywhere. There is no justification for the compulsory display of the EU symbol on the Red Ensign.”

The Government is equally determined to hole the proposal below the waterline, though Britain would have no right of veto in this instance.

“There is absolutely no way we could accept the disfigurement of the Union Flag,” said a British spokesman. “We reject this — full stop. If people want to fly the European flag, that is a different issue.”

Britain’s Chamber of Shipping was equally scathing of what it called “gesture politics”. A spokesman said: “The only people who will see any benefit are flagmakers. We want to preserve the Red Ensign because it is a mark of quality.”

In private, some Brussels officials have suggested that the skull and crossbones might have a greater chance of success. The proposal has arisen from maritime legislation designed to prevent sub-standard ships exploiting loopholes in the system by transferring from one register to another.

But there is little support for replacing individual national registers with a single panEuropean one, so Josu Ortuondo, a Basque nationalist MEP, adopted a different tack.

He tabled an amendment stating that “ships registered in a member state shall display the emblem of the European Union, ie a circle of 12 gold stars on a square blue background, in a corner of their flags”.

He explained: “This would be a powerful symbol, displaying across the world the existence of a European Union set to approve a constitutional treaty.”

Mark Watts, a British Labour MEP who supported the amendment in the committee vote, argued that the idea was worth exploring and that it followed the example of car number plates, where the European flag is now a regular feature. “We are not saying that national flags should come down and the European flag go up. That would be unacceptable.

“This recognises the reality that we are sticking with national flags, but gives some small visual sign that we are all Europeans.

“A good balance would be for the Red Ensign to have 99 per cent of the flag and the EU 1 per cent. That would be a true reflection of where sovereignty lies”. But the MEPs’ initiative could be scuppered in the months ahead.

If the full European Parliament does not sink the proposal when it votes on it in January, EU governments almost certainly will.

Few would take kindly to a Brussels imprint on one of their precious national emblems.

DEBATE: Does this proposal make you see red?

Send your e-mails to debate@thetimes.co.uk

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