European Commission insists no action was being taken over Brexit Day stunt

The pro-EU message projected on to the European Commission building in Brussels. Photograph: Twitter. - Credit: Archant

The European Commission has insisted that no action has been taken over the ‘Scotland Loves Europe’ message illuminated on to an EU building in Brussels.

The commission said it would usually request police shut down an unauthorised projection – which the January 31 incident was deemed to be – but it was up for such a short time there was no need for officers to take action.

A spokesman said: “We did not contact the police on this occasion.

“It is usually our normal protocol to do so but on this occasion it was so short-lived.”

When asked about the earlier comments from EC spokeswoman Dana Spinant, who suggested the police had been contacted, the spokesman said there had been a “misunderstanding” and no discussions had been had with the authorities.

He added: “The truth is there was no report.”

Reports have claimed the SNP was responsible for the January 31 light show at the Berlaymont – the main office building of the European Commission, which said it was not aware of the projection.

The illumination, which showed the words “Scotland” and “Europe” cross each other, with a love heart in the middle, was shared on social media by senior SNP politicians including Nicola Sturgeon.

Opponents alleged SNP members were trying to make it look as though the European Commission had projected the message.

Spinant earlier told a briefing of journalists: “In relation to the message projected on to the Berlaymont on January 31 I can confirm, as you already know, it seems this has nothing to do with the commission – we were not in the knowledge of that.

“It’s not the first time where third parties, of all kinds, projected illumination messages on to the Berlaymont – this is something between those third parties and the Belgian police.

“We have nothing to do with that action or with the message that was projected.”

Asked to clarify if a member of the building’s security team had reported the incident to police, Spinant said it was part of “an ongoing discussion with the Belgian police”.

She added: “I know that it was taken up with them … I can again confirm it had nothing to do with us and was a matter for the Belgian police.”