Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-05-12-Speech-4-030-000"
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"en.20110512.9.4-030-000"2
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"Mr President, I am pleased that this morning’s plenary is devoted to cultural matters: it is very important to speak about them, not just on one morning but more broadly. Nevertheless, it is good that we are dealing with these issues. It is something of a challenge to bundle all these reports together and give evaluations of them, but perhaps I can express a few views on them.
Concerning Mr Zver’s Youth on the Move initiative, it is very probably true that this mobility programme has proven to be a success story, and his report, to its credit, goes a lot deeper into the matter. I believe that it could lead to many success stories being documented in European history and on the subject of youth in the future. It is important to ensure that we have Europewide educational programmes in which young people can participate, and that multiculturalism can be strengthened as a result.
It is also very important to consider what Mrs Honeyball says in her report on early childhood education and care (ECEC). I would prefer to speak of early education and care rather than early years learning, as a person’s growth process is important. People must be allowed to grow, and education is just one part of that process. If we can bring our children and young people up to be good human beings and wellbalanced members of society, that is a huge challenge. Obviously, the home has a crucial role here, but, as the report points out so well, it is also vital to ensure that those working in the ECEC field have a role to play and that there is a process of mediation, something which children and young people particularly need today.
Regarding Mrs Schaake’s report on the EU’s external actions, I think that we need a greater understanding of culture when we are laying down foreign policy. That is very important. There are many unfortunate examples of situations where ignorance of cultural backgrounds and the cultural context has led to failures in foreign policy, and that is why it is very important to make culture an integral part of the European External Action Service.
I would like to finish by saying that my opinion regarding the Sarajevo initiative, which Mrs Pack brought up today, is that it is quite true that five years ago decisions were taken on capitals of culture, but, as in science, a paradigm always has to be challenged anew. Now perhaps is the time to do so regarding this particular issue, to some extent at least, and try to find a solution where a change might be made with respect to Sarajevo. I believe that it could produce added value for the European Capital of Culture programme and the European Union as a whole.
To sum up, we should look at the bigger picture regarding cultural policy and try to understand its importance for the whole of the European Union. The internal market and foreign and security policy will not endure if there is no strong cultural base to support them. Culture is the basis of everything, the basis of the future for the European Union as a whole, and that is why it is important to ensure that it is acknowledged, not just in the light of GDP, but as a value in itself, both for people and societies, and, ultimately, for the entire European Union."@en1
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