Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-02-22-Speech-2-068"
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"en.20050222.5.2-068"2
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"Mr President, the European Capital of Culture is the most readily understood and visible of all the programmes aimed at promoting the idea of a common Europe. At a time when we are constantly being told of the public’s lack of interest in European issues, and when the idea of a common Europe is becoming ever more frequently associated only with debts and dull discussions on some technical aspect or other of the way in which the European institutions are organised, the Capital of Culture project is a commendable exception.
Anyone who was in Lille last year when the city held the title of European Capital of Culture, or who has been in Cracow, which shared the title of Capital of Culture with eight other European cities in 2000, or indeed in many other Capitals of Culture, cannot have failed to notice the public’s enormous interest in Europe and the great enthusiasm demonstrated by the large numbers of citizens who took part in remarkable cultural events. Such occasions are an opportunity for all the critics of European integration to see the enthusiasm, joy and expectation with which the public greets outstanding cultural events inspired by the quest for common European roots.
Genuine and lively dialogue takes place in European Capitals of Culture, and it is here that inspiration should be sought by those who are weary of their job of building a community on our continent from the Rond-Point Schuman. The fundamental value of this initiative lies in the fact that it did not come about as a result of an official proposal, and that it was not dreamt up by some Brussels bureaucrat. It was mooted in Athens 20 years ago as a spur-of-the-moment idea, and subsequently taken up by other European cities. Although there are no plans for this at present, provision should be made in the 2007-2013 Financial Perspective for a special and separate budget to support this idea.
I was astonished to note that the Network of the European Cities of Culture and Cultural Months (ECCM) was the only one of several dozen organisations not to receive funding from the European Commission. This specialist organisation brings together experienced managers who are responsible for implementing the initiative in their own countries, and I would ask that this oversight be corrected. Given that the initiative has been in existence for 20 years, it is now time for the European Commission to provide significant funding for it in future, and for it to pay due regard to the experience of previous organisers. The EU should provide technical and artistic support to assist those who will be in charge of organising forthcoming celebrations of the common Europe and its Cultural Capitals over the next few years."@en1
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