Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-03-11-Speech-2-359"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20080311.33.2-359"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Thank you for the additional questions. They demonstrate that culture, identity and memories are important, as is looking forward and developing culture. We support these aspects. I must reiterate that subsidiarity is about responsibility and not about creating an alibi for us so that we can say that we are not cooperating because the matter is a Member State competence. The Commission genuinely makes every effort to create the best possible environment for cultural dialogue, exchange and cooperation, and I believe that the fruit of those efforts are fairly obvious.
I mentioned the Culture Programme (2007 to 2013) earlier. Let us compare the numbers: seven years in the past, seven years now. However, one very important example is the fact that the European agenda for culture in a globalising world was pushed through and approved for the first time last year, not just to the satisfaction of the Commission but to the satisfaction of the EU as a whole. The proposals were presented in May and approved by the Member States in November. Secondly, we have succeeded in agreeing that when it comes to culture, to an agenda for culture, we will be using a new method of cooperation, an open method of coordination. Prior to that, the majority would have said that this would have been unlikely because we would have been unable to reach an agreement due to the differences of opinion.
However, the substance is the key issue: it is important to ensure that this cooperation focuses on practical cultural needs in the broader sense, on the needs of the cultural and artistic sectors, on simply expanding culture. The Lisbon Council achieved something important in spring last year: cultural sectors or the so-called cultural industry have for the first time been mentioned in the Lisbon Strategy, which is credited with making an important contribution to economic growth and employment. This helps to overcome the classic dichotomy that culture costs money while business brings in money. Culture goes hand in hand with values, with the expanding dimensions of sustainable economic development. A lack of culture results in business problems, as well as political and other problems. By this I mean that culture should be perceived as an important player and promoted in different ways so that it prospers. I am therefore glad that even in the Commission we are achieving more success with this more horizontal approach, thanks, too, to last year’s decision.
I do not want my answer to be too long. The new Member States make contributions through their culture, their extensive heritage, their fresh memories of a divided Europe or of a past that was much more dramatic in the second half of the 20th century. However, in many ways they can learn from the older Member States, which, for example, have much more dynamic methods of financing culture, developing cultural education and dealing with many issues that have to be promoted in the new Member States too. Policies and governments cannot treat culture as a residual issue: ‘if there is money left of course we will give something to the cultural sector, but it is neither a priority nor a key topic’.
Secondly, I would like to respond to what Mr Reinhard Rack said about the burden of the past. A little bit earlier I touched briefly on the issue of memory: it plays an important role in matters of identity; it teaches us not to repeat the tragedies of the past. In my response to Mr Bernd Posselt, I referred to the Europe for Citizens Programme 2007-2013. This programme allows the European Union over the course of these seven years to cofinance projects aimed at keeping alive the memories of the periods of dictatorship, as well as the victims of Nazism and Stalinism. I think that this is a very important challenge because it helps us to remember that all that we have – freedom, democracy, a united Europe – has not just happened by chance or by default and that there is always a certain temptation, be it smaller or greater, to move towards totality and a form of simplification. Remember that we need to develop values in each generation: technology and buildings are easy to pass on but values must be implanted in every person’s mind and heart from childhood.
I would therefore encourage you to use these instruments for cultural or civil cooperation, to use them to preserve our memories, for the benefit of our hearts and our minds. In my opinion, that is precisely the task of those who have survived such times, who remember the events, who come from countries that used to be in a sort of grey zone or behind the Iron Curtain. In any event, today’s Union should provide a space for remembering and for developing the Community."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples