Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-01-15-Speech-1-095"
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"en.20010115.8.1-095"2
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".
Mr President, I feel that the protection of cultural and natural heritage – quite apart from the matter of who is responsible for what under the Treaty – is of importance to everyone, because – let me say this before getting to the heart of the matter – like you, I consider that our heritage is made up of buildings, natural sites and traditions and cannot be restricted to one person, one region, or one country as it belongs to the entire community of European citizens. If we have any wealth in Europe it is our wealth of cultural diversity, and that belongs to all of us. It does not belong to just a small part of Europe, even if it comes from that small part of Europe. That is why we are all responsible for protecting our heritage and protecting this diversity. If something is lost from Finland’s heritage, then it is also lost to Greece, and if something is lost in Greece, then it is also lost to Denmark. Responsibility lies with all the citizens of Europe wherever they are and whatever the role they have to play.
Having said that, ladies and gentlemen, obviously the Commission welcomes the work carried out by Parliament, especially the rapporteur, Mrs De Veyrac, and it shares the concerns and the interests highlighted by this report.
Legally speaking, as you are well aware, the Treaty does not provide any legal basis for Community action in the field of culture and rules out the possibility of harmonisation in this field. Not only is the Commission not in a position to draw up its own list of cultural and natural heritage properties and sites, but it is rather reluctant to consider adding to the number of existing lists.
To return to my opening remarks, this does not limit our responsibility in the area of heritage conservation.
We have, indeed, always cooperated with the international bodies, private associations, individuals, states, regions and villages that have worked so hard to safeguard their heritage and our heritage. In particular, we can highlight the joint action undertaken with the Council of Europe and with UNESCO, such as, for instance, the “Europe, a common heritage” campaign, or the study undertaken to support Kosovo’s heritage. This cooperation must continue, not just in order to avoid the uncoordinated duplication of effort in similar areas, but also to improve the effectiveness of the international legal and fiscal framework which some speakers have mentioned. I should, moreover, like to point out that under the Raphael and Culture 2000 programmes, we are most committed in our undertakings to assist the public, regions, states and associations alike, in order to support all those working at grass-roots level to conserve the heritage shared by all European citizens.
The types of project that have been promoted continually include raising the awareness of and promoting the involvement of the public, especially young people, because, as you rightly state, respecting our heritage and nature is a matter of education. Schemes have also included the improvement of the methods and tools used by heritage workers in Europe, especially those developed by the International Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage in Rome, and the further training of workers and specialist craftspeople in the area of restoration, an area we have tried to develop through our education programmes, precisely in order to establish a supply of specialists capable of assisting with various ongoing restoration projects.
Ladies and gentlemen, I can assure you that we intend to continue on these lines, within the scope of our jurisdiction and our, as you know, very limited resources, of course, but we do intend to provide appropriate constructive responses. That is why I must thank the European Parliament for its initiative, both in a personal capacity and on behalf of the Commission, because we should like to see more initiatives, private or public, being taken in Europe at every level, on condition that they go towards the objective of conserving European heritage.
Indeed, this is why I am wholeheartedly in favour of the publicity we can give heritage aid by establishing prizes such as the prize for restoration created by
or the European Heritage Day prize. What is the value of these prizes? Well, they provide role models showing all the citizens of Europe what it is possible to achieve, sometimes with minimum resources, in terms of preserving this heritage we share for future generations, a heritage which belongs to us directly but also indirectly, that is, the heritage of all Europeans, while respecting cultural diversity."@en1
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"Europa Nostra"1
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