A proposition by EC vice president Guenter Verheugen to name a new European program for sustainable services based on Earth observations after the world famous astronomer Nicolas Copernicus has triggered sharp criticism in many Polish political and scientific quarters.  

Slawek Szefs reports

It might seem strange at first glance that Poles would have any objections to honoring their compatriot, Mikolaj Kopernik, in such a prestigious project. However, it is not the idea that arouses controversy but the spelling, which has been a bone of contention throughout ages of common, yet turbulent, Polish and German history.  

In his September 16th address to the GMES Forum in Lille Mr. Verheugen said: 'Kopernikus, a European personality, was born in 1473 of German parents in Torun, Prussia. Nowadays, Torun is in Poland about 160 kilometers south of Gdansk. He lived and studied in many different European cities. He was a leading scientist of his time and he revolutionised our understanding of the universe. I hope that our Kopernikus programme will equally revolutionise our understanding of the Earth's environment and security challenges.'  

Hence, in a goodwill gesture, the official name of the Global Monitoring for the Environment and Security program has been changed to K-O-P-E-R-N-I-K-U-S.  

The problem is in the letters K used in the great astronomer's name and also the historically mistaken identity of Torun at the time of his birth, explains MEP Wojciech Roszkowski, a professor of history: 'First, the name was really Germanized. At that time, Copernicus was written in Latin (the spelling), not in German, not even in Polish (Mikolaj Kopernik), perhaps. Commissioner Verheugen is right that he was born of German and Polish parents. But he was born in Torun which was a part of Royal Prussia, being a part of the Kingdom of Poland. Copernicus, as a citizen of the Kingdom of Poland, played an important role in the diplomacy of the Kingdom of Poland. And since Commissioner Verheugen uses the term -nowadays in Poland- for Torun, he makes an opposition to the contemporary situation and the then belonging of Torun to Prussia. But in fact it was THEN in Poland and it is NOW in Poland.'  

Another Polish MEP, Adam Bielan has been perplexed by what he terms as 'Germanization' of the celebrated Polish scientist: 'That is why I'm asking the European Commission whether Mr. Verheugen's actions are a result of certain historical ignorance, or can they be treated as an attempt to revise history. This is a European program financed from European taxpayers' money and as such it should not give rise to any controversy.' 

Ton Van Lierop, spokesman for the Enterprise and Industry Commissioner, says Guenter Verheugen's intentions had been clearly to honor Polish scientific contribution: 'Kopernikus, written with a (letter) K, has been registered this way as an official trademark, purely for legal reasons. If people want to use or write the name in Polish, they are absolutely welcome to do so. Mr. Verheugen has chosen the name as he obviously wanted to show respect to the contribution of Poland to the history of European science.' 

It remains to be hoped that the controversies surrounding the new name of the EU funded global environment and security monitoring program will be cleared up quickly and the focus of attention will be brought back to the services it can render for the common good of European nations.