Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-04-14-Speech-4-033"
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"en.20050414.4.4-033"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the subject of our debate today is culture, but we must ask ourselves what we mean by this term. Does culture mean everything that surrounds a person and his or her entire way of life, or only cultural products, such as paintings, sculpture, architecture, music, and above all films, which have already been mentioned today? We should not forget that the role played by the state as a patron of culture has always been significant, but never crucial. One cannot fail to mention the role of the Medici or the popes in connection with Italy’s magnificent Renaissance art, yet they were not responsible for the fact that Renaissance art in Italy reached its zenith at that time. Similarly, the fact that the German princes acted as benefactors in the 18th and 19th centuries does not mean that they were responsible for the development of such marvellous music in that part of the world. No one can claim credit for the fact that Chopin was born and worked in Poland. Culture cannot be managed, and we should therefore not be fooled into thinking that any action we take will determine Europe’s success in this field. We should not forget that the market also has an important role to play, which is why we have fond memories of the magnificent Italian films of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, whereas American cinema now holds sway. Back then Italian or French films were hits, or even Polish films, which despite communism were really quite good, and today this distinction falls to American films. The media obviously have a large part to play in this process, even though it is an unfortunate fact that they sometimes neglect their duty by becoming entirely commercialised. We should not forget that statements to the effect that European films are almost unknown in America, and that American films are by far the most popular in Europe, are whinging plain and simple, and we should not overly concern ourselves with them. After all, American art and culture are essentially versions of European art, although we should not turn our backs on Henry James, Ernest Hemingway or John Steinbeck for being American. We should not lose hope, as after all the whole world is under the sway of European culture, even if this culture sometimes comes in an American edition."@en1
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