Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-03-26-Speech-4-218"
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"en.20090326.19.4-218"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I agree with the wording of the questions as formulated by my colleague Doris Pack. In my view multilateral support for the European regions is very important. There used to be borders in Europe separating states and nations from each other for centuries, creating a kind of psychological no-man’s land. Fortunately we have now succeeded in eliminating borders through the Schengen agreement, but regions remain divided, cities are cut in half and psychological problems in particular persist, as one piece of territory belongs here or there and another somewhere else. In an increasingly integrated Europe these ancient scars on the map and in people’s minds are healing safely but slowly. The fastest way to make them whole, much more effectively and practically than all of the top-down measures, is to support civic initiatives and the activities of cultural organisations and regional institutions. The regional institutions and ordinary people living in this or that territory know best what needs to be done to revive their region.
There are many projects whose implementation would represent both a step forwards and an impulse for further action. I come from the region of Northern Moravia, from Silesia, an area where Czech, Polish and Slovak territory all meet. And it is precisely there, in the historic Těšín region which today comprises the Czech town of Český Těšín and Polish Cieszyn, that a project has been created called “A Garden on Both Banks of the River” since there is a river flowing between the two towns which once formed a single urban unit. The project is putting in place links between the two river banks that are not only of an urban nature, but are also architectural and above all cultural. Both divided sections of the formerly homogenous whole must be linked through the cultural activities of the inhabitants. The river between the two towns and their surroundings must become a place of cultural exchange and cultural overlap. However, an important aspect of such projects is the new employment opportunities created not only during the implementation of the work but also afterwards. The service sector will certainly expand, increasing the attractiveness of the area and supporting the potential for tourism and other sorts of related enterprise. The authors of the “Garden on Both Banks of the River” project were inspired by the example of Strasbourg in France and Kehl in Germany, which were also such close neighbours that they formed a natural urban structure. Also here the Rhine flows between both cities. What is happening in France and Germany can also happen in the Czech Republic and Poland or anywhere else in Europe. There are many more examples of this in Central Europe. When we talk of the share of culture in developing Europe’s regions it is precisely these projects that come to mind.
The EU, the Commission and the European Parliament should support cultural projects of this type even more than they have done to date. The authors of civil initiatives often complain that these activities are unduly held up by complicated bureaucracy or overly-complicated structures in the relevant ministries and offices."@en1
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