Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-10-28-Speech-4-115"
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"en.19991028.2.4-115"2
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"The project on which we are called upon to declare our opinion in the form of the report by our fellow member, Mr Graça-Moura, is hardly a matter for controversy and is one which can legitimately gain the support of Parliament in its entirety.
Indeed, the European Union has a central role to play in the development of culture and the arts in Europe. In the vision of a Europe of the nations, which is the one I am arguing in favour of here, this is precisely the type of action in which European cooperation can contribute a significant added value.
But I must stress that we are not to be fooled, for all that. The fact that Parliament wishes to substitute the term “cultural policy” for the term “cultural cooperation” shows the temptation to standardise of a “European” cultural policy intended to replace those of Member States would have.
Culture must not be the test-bed used by ideologists for the creation of the “European nation”. There is no European culture, any more than there is a European nation. There are, and this is a formidable source of cultural wealth, many nations which participate in the European Union, and many national cultures. This programme will, I hope, contribute towards permitting all citizens of Member States to discover this wealth and this diversity. The Union for a Europe of Nations Group will always support programmes intended to promote exchanges, to develop the appetite for culture in the citizens of our Member States. As long as this really means exchanges and discovery and not creating the Homo Europeus who knows the speeches of Jean Monnet off by heart.
This new expression of European cultural cooperation is of very special importance on the eve of the Seattle negotiations which will not, I fear, do anything to challenge American cultural hegemony.
This is why I am warning the Commission and Parliament against the temptation to use these programmes as an instrument for propaganda or standardisation. There is too much at stake.
Moreover, and in conclusion, it seems to me that the war of figures which Parliament, the Council and the Commission are waging regarding this case is particularly fruitless. We all know that the European Union must face up to decisions, painful decisions perhaps, but crucial decisions, in order to ensure its enlargement. So, please, ladies and gentlemen, let us learn to face up to our responsibilities, and let us not accuse the Council of stinginess, when it is simply facing up to the responsibilities which voters and tax payers in our Member States have entrusted to it."@en1
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