Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-03-09-Speech-2-266"
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"en.20040309.10.2-266"2
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"Mr President, I wish to begin by thanking all three rapporteurs for their reports, which I fully support.
In the ten years I have been in Parliament I have had responsibility either as the budget rapporteur or the shadow budget rapporteur for the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport, often working very closely with Mrs Iivari. I wish to concentrate mainly on the culture report. She and I are broadly in agreement on the principles. Perhaps we would differ to a certain extent in that I have always thought the parliamentary procedure for supporting activities is very open and transparent.
I also attended the conciliation meeting just before Christmas, when we hammered out the new legal base. I want to pay tribute both to the Commissioner and to the Commission staff for their support, as also to the chairman of the Committee on Budgets, who was extremely supportive.
Let me just make three key points. Spending on cultural activity is important. I totally agree with the Commissioner: Europe has to be, and is, about more than economics and trade. The activities of organisations such as the European Youth Orchestra, 'Swinging Europe', the European Forum for the Arts and Heritage – I could carry on – all help people to understand not just culture but also the cultural dimension of Europe and, through that, the European Union itself.
We all know that the Culture 2000 programme is grossly under-funded. It is also restricted by its own terms, and many organisations that need help at a European level and have been turning to Parliament will now be able to use this new legal base. We cannot expect the Member States to fund cultural activities of a European dimension – they will concentrate on the national dimension.
Culture funding is too small – that has been said before. Nearly 50% of our money goes on agriculture – I make it less than 0.5% on culture. But culture is an important wealth creator: 17% of UK GDP comes from the creative industries.
Finally, we have to ensure that organisations that receive funding support get the information in good time, so that money is spent efficiently as well as effectively."@en1
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