Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-10-27-Speech-3-215"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.19991027.8.3-215"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, I wanted to sincerely thank our colleague, Mr Graça Moura, for taking over this report and really being content to take forward what we had already decided in the last legislative period and which was the work of Nana Mouskouri, whose warm greetings I am to pass on to you today. She is very happy that things are finally moving forward.
The model of society which forms the basis of this report by Mr Graça Moura is a deeply humanitarian one. Culture plays an important role in this model, and partly for the purpose of facilitating respect on the part of our citizens for each other’s different cultures, as well as for national and regional traditions.
This new programme sets out the framework for the European Union’s cultural policy for the next few years. It must be added that a genuine policy on culture and education is needed today more than ever, since it is the actual basis of European politics. Above all, however, it gives a human face to the distant and bureaucratic politics of Europe and puts the citizen in the centre of activity and debate, as is also happening with the “Youth” programme and with the “Socrates” education programme.
The European Union should not just be a question of figures and statistics, for example. Only the genuine participation of its citizens makes it a living whole. When we see that the European Union has precisely 167 million ecus left for cultural policy, we naturally regard this as a ridiculous sum. As insiders, we know of course that what we are doing in terms of cultural policy is not confined to the area covered by this sum. We are also working in the cultural sphere when it comes to the areas covered by the regional funds. However, EUR 167 million is too small a sum. Even EUR 250 million would not be enough in view of the scale of the work which awaits us. I consider that the cultural sphere, to which we have the task of giving a higher profile, requires a much larger sum of money. But that is how it is everywhere in the European Union. Everyone gets up on their soapbox and says that Europe must be given a soul. That is a wonderful catchword. Everyone hides behind it but, unfortunately, not a lot of money is spent on it. I believe it is the same in every country.
This cultural programme can basically make only a small contribution to realising this desire that neighbours should be made genuinely aware of each other’s respective cultures.
In the form in which we now have the report, extensive parts of the former Commission’s proposal have been changed. We have responded more to the will of our citizens and have been that much less inclined to go in for big events. I know that this is also the attitude of the new Commissioner. I hope that the quality of the projects which we are now to have will make up for the lack of financial resources."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples