Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-01-15-Speech-1-087"
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"en.20010115.8.1-087"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, world cultural heritage – we have just heard the statistics – is distributed relatively unevenly. Most of it is here in Europe, which is something we can be very proud of, although it also shows that there are certain inequalities. Also, there are very few sites, i.e. places that have been deemed part of world cultural heritage, in comparison with the number found in the rest of the world, and it is a real drop in the ocean, because there are many more sites that would merit this kind of status and support.
This simplifies neither the decision-making process nor the selection procedures. More applications are rejected than are accepted, and I think there is a need to redefine the criteria. The diversity of cultural heritage underlines the identity of a country’s own regions, which is why responsibility must primarily be taken and asserted at regional level, whilst acknowledging that they must be afforded substantial support from outside, from the European Union and from all those who are jointly responsible.
These regional responsibilities include the preservation of homelands, customs and traditions, the development of a country’s own regions and so on and so forth. As I see it, these are criteria that can primarily only be managed at regional level. The importance of world cultural heritage sites transcends the scope of regional development. They are cultural treasures, and bear witness to epoch-making changes and unique occurrences in nature. They have outstanding universal value. Architectural cultural heritage, land developed and cultivated by man and urban cultural heritage belong together, but the picture is not complete unless it also includes monuments to contemporary history, from the world of work for example, such as developments in working life, the building of factories, machines and so on and so forth.
They trace the development of the working process of our document, and also elsewhere in the world. It is therefore just as important to tackle the plundering of architectural finds as it is to combat the thoughtless destruction of the remnants of social institutions. Rapid technological development and changes in our environment really bring home how important it is to spare a thought for our natural heritage and take responsibility, in other words development planning and changes of designated land usages must feature more prominently in our responsibility for the conservation of our cultural heritage.
Accordingly, when selecting world cultural heritage sites, there must be more emphasis on striking a balance between historic sites, religious monuments, the various religions from prehistoric times, contemporary history and natural heritage, and the assessment criteria must be amended with this in mind. The conservation of our cultural heritage is associated not only with a high level of responsibility, but also with high levels of cost. We therefore need to find ways of alleviating the financing aspect, of considering the legal and fiscal instrument and providing sponsors with incentives to make us more conscious of this responsibility."@en1
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