Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-05-12-Speech-4-019-000"
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"en.20110512.9.4-019-000"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, in our debate this morning, the issue is not simply about an economic model or a legal system. We are talking here about culture and civilisation.
What place does Europe want to give to culture? What influence do we want for our works and our creation? The digital revolution, linked to globalisation and growing trade, compels us to rethink our cultural and economic model. With the Internet and digital media, what do we want Europe to be moving towards? Politics is the art of anticipating, preparing what we would like so that we do not have to put up with what we do not want.
The American film maker James Cameron spent on his film ‘Avatar’ the equivalent of the European Union’s ‘culture’ programme for the 2007-2013 period. Will we be the consumers of cultural products that do not belong to us anymore, dependent on multinational oligopolies such as Google, iTunes, Amazon or Hollywood, without being able to defend our assets?
This morning, we are thinking about the challenges faced by culture in the globalised world of the 21st century. The European Commission, with the publication of its Green Paper last year, has at last taken stock of the potential of our creative and cultural industries. The European Union has a cultural heritage and cultural assets, as well as an extremely dynamic and lively film industry. The MEDIA programme is celebrating 20 years at the Cannes Festival this year and is supporting 20 of the competing films as well as festivals, performing arts and large exhibitions, which are taking place throughout the year and across Europe.
Furthermore, despite the recession, the sector of creative and cultural industries has been consistently making progress in the last decade. The figures speak for themselves. In 2003, this sector generated a turnover of EUR 654 billion. It contributed 2.6% of Community GDP and accounted for 3.1% of all jobs within the European Union, or 5.8 million people. In 2008, it already represented EUR 860 billion, 14 million jobs and nearly 7% of GDP. That is more than the automotive industry and the agri-food industry put together.
The dual nature of these industries, which are, at the same time, economic and cultural, makes them important levers for sustainable, intelligent and inclusive growth for Europe – in short, the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy. As well as being economic assets, they sustain and enrich cultural diversity. They contribute to social cohesion, to making regions attractive and to the European Union’s influence in the world. It is time to give impetus, at Community level, to a real momentum that would unlock their potential and stimulate their development.
Thus, I wanted to explore many lines of action to support the growth of these industries. These measures have several strands. Firstly, putting education and training at the heart of our strategy. On the one hand, Europe must encourage creative talents from a very young age, raise young people’s awareness of culture, and develop partnerships between universities and companies. On the other hand, it should enable those in the culture sector to be trained with regard to new technologies, entrepreneurship, and should stimulate the exchange of best practices and the transmission of know-how. Secondly, it is essential that we adapt copyright to the digital era. Indeed, the current procedure for acquiring copyright is too fragmented, too complicated.
The third vital component of our strategy should be the protection of creativeness. Intellectual property is a precious asset. Creativeness that is undermined is creativeness that is doomed to disappear. Creators’ mobility must be encouraged. The European Union must work to introduce a European status so that they can enjoy fair working conditions and social protection. It must facilitate the purchase, distribution and circulation of works, adapt taxation, for instance, with reduced VAT for cultural goods, and lastly, help with funding. Private investors are too often reluctant when it comes to funding SMEs. The opportunities offered by public funding, particularly the Structural Funds, are not fully exploited. Creativity and culture must be considered as crucial aspects in our policy and, in this respect, Europe owes it to itself to promote them."@en1
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