A3-0386/93

Resolution on Community policy in the field of culture

The European Parliament,

-having regard to its resolutions of:

.17 February 1989 on a fresh boost for Community action in the cultural sector,

.23 November 1990 on European Cities of Culture,

.10 September 1991 on cultural relations between the European Community and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe,

.25 October 1991 on promotion of theatre and music,

.11 March 1992 on the situation of artists in the European Community,

.21 January 1993 on the Commission communication entitled 'New prospects for Community cultural action',

.21 January 1993 on the promotion of books and reading in Europe,

.12 February 1993 on preserving the architectural heritage and protecting cultural assets,

-having regard to its opinions of:

.23 November 1990 on the Commission proposal for a Council decision concerning the implementation of an action programme to promote the development of the European audiovisual industry 'MEDIA' (1991-1995),

.23 November 1990 on the Commission proposal for a Council decision concerning the implementation of a Community vocational training measure in the audiovisual sector,

.9 June 1992 on the Commission proposal for a Council regulation on the export of cultural goods,

.11 June 1992 on the Commission proposal for a Council directive on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State,

.10 February 1993 on the common position of the Council with a view to adopting a directive on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State,

-having regard to the motions for resolutions tabled by:

(a)Mrs Van Hemeldonck on European assistance for cultural creativity (B3-1352/92),

(b)Mr Simeoni on popular cultures and the living heritage of the peoples and regions of the Community (B3-1529/92),

(c)Mr Barzanti and others on the establishment of a European Writers' Charter (B3-1551/92),

(d)Mr Barzanti and others on the establishment of a European Fund for Literature (B3-1552/92),

(e)Mr Barzanti and others on support for the European Writers' Forum (B3-1655/92),

-having regard to Rule 148 of its Rules of Procedure,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education and the Media and the opinion of the Committee on Institutional Affairs (A3-0386/93),

A.whereas the achievement of European Union is inseparable from the demonstration and promotion of Europe's cultural identity, which is the product of interaction between a civilization and a plurality of national, regional and local cultures,

B.whereas Article 128(1) of the EC Treaty states 'the Community shall contribute to the flowering of the cultures of the Member States, while respecting their national and regional diversity and at the same time bringing the common cultural heritage to the fore',

C.whereas the Community will be required to take cultural aspects into account in all its policies, as for the first time, on the basis of the new powers, its policies in other areas, in particular competition, can be geared to cultural interests,

D.whereas cultural dialogue plays a decisive role in encouraging mutual acquaintanceship, cooperation and peace, and whereas in this connection 'the Community and the Member States shall foster cooperation with third countries and the competent international organizations in the sphere of culture',

E.whereas culture is an excellent means of fostering mutual tolerance,

F.whereas guaranteeing the right to cultural freedom means that the European Community should accede to the European Convention on Human Rights and whereas it should develop policy instruments based on the Convention in order to guarantee citizens the rights set out therein,

G.whereas the budgetary resources earmarked by the Community for the cultural sector in 1994 are clearly inadequate and jeopardize the chances of implementing the aspirations represented by the Maastricht Treaty,

H.whereas, while Community action in the cultural sector has been valuable, it has chiefly emphasized sectors such as the architectural heritage, books and reading and the audiovisual sector,

I.whereas there have existed for centuries, in the regions of the Community, expressions of folk art and culture which constitute a living heritage (songs, music, traditional stories and dances, traditional games and sports, street theatre, folk theatre, etc.) which have been neglected in Community cultural policy,

J.whereas in most Member States the social and economic situation of artists and writers is far from satisfactory, not only in terms of earnings but also in terms of taxation and social benefits (social security, pensions),

K.whereas Europe's position in the world will be a reflection of the importance and dynamism of its cultural values, which must constantly be critically assessed, developed and disseminated,

1.Welcomes Article 128 of the EC Treaty, to which it will be essential to apply the subsidiarity principle, a sine qua non for an optimum fair and united policy and a non-bureaucratic approach to an area which requires special support;

2.Calls on the Council to take all aspects of Parliament's position in this field into account, in particular when drawing up its recommendations, and to refrain from taking decisions which would run counter to Parliament's guidelines;

3.Calls on the Commission to give consideration to the nature of the legal instruments on which its proposals are based, to take account of the need to ensure coherence between the various legal instruments and to respect Parliament's powers of co-decision in all their provisions and implications;

4.Calls on the institutions to apply the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality bearing in mind the Treaty's aims - full realization of the cultures of the Member States and optimum development of the common cultural heritage - and subject to their actual and detailed implementation;

5.Calls on the institutions, when defining common policies, to take into account respect for the different cultures of European peoples, as laid down by the provisions of the Treaty;

6.Appeals to the Commission to discuss a procedure or develop a plan of action together with the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education and the Media, whereby all the other areas of the European Union's policies could be examined for their cultural compatibility, possibly with the help of external cultural experts and studies;

7.Stresses that freedom of expression must be central in a Community cultural policy;

8.Urges the Commission to draw up studies on the cultural dimension in the various policies of the Community and on cultural cooperation with third countries and the competent international organizations;

9.Points out that the responsibilities of citizens' organizations should have a clear place in the Commission's cultural policy and calls on the Commission to submit proposals to enter into dialogue on cultural policy with these organizations;

10.Emphasizes that cultural clauses included in association and cooperation agreements with third countries must follow a coherent strategy which enables them to be implemented in full;

11.Believes that the Community should establish special relations for additional exchanges and cooperation at cultural level with specialist non-governmental organizations and with the Council of Europe and UNESCO, while fully respecting the identity and autonomy of each party and calls on the Commission to submit, within one year of the adoption of this resolution, a specific proposal for practical and effective cooperation with the respective parties;

12.Deplores the inadequate funding of the cultural sector and recalls that the informal Council of Ministers of Culture meeting in Birmingham agreed that cultural measures should be partly funded from the Structural Funds;

13.Considers that a proper application of the subsidiarity principle means that financial support for cultural activities must occur alongside the exercise of Community powers, and that this would mean that they would be be subject to genuine parliamentary supervision;

14.Agrees with the use of business sponsorship, the abuse of which should not be encouraged, and which, like other sponsorship, now plays an important role in the cultural sector and must be encouraged, without being allowed to influence the content and performance of cultural activity in an unacceptable manner;

15.Calls on the Commission to draw up constructive proposals for the benefit of music, theatre, dance, the plastic arts, literature, historical research, cinema and all other forms of art, and to support practical measures in a more even-handed manner than it has so far done while respecting the priorities set out by the new Guidelines of Cultural Action of the Communities (COM(92) 149 final);

16.Calls on the Commission to conduct a study into the cultural traditions and the living heritage of all those people living in the Community and the special character of its regions;

17.Believes that the safeguarding of the linguistic heritage, the abolition of language barriers and the protection of lesser used European languages are essential elements of any cultural policy;

18.Urges the Commission to draw up a European Artists' (authors and performers) and Writers' Charter in line with its aforementioned resolution of 11 March 1992;

19.Calls on the Community to draw up a genuine Community cultural policy, strengthening national and regional policies and including initially a genuine statute for creative workers (authors and performers) which recognizes their social and economic role, ensures the free movement of works and artists and freedom of competition between productions;

20.Calls on the Commission to support in an effective manner initiatives and organizations intended to promote dialogue and collaboration between the writers of the European Union and those of Central and Eastern Europe;

21.Calls on the Commission to promote cultural measures for young people, especially those who live in the peripheral regions and rural areas of the Community;

22.Emphasizes the need to bring the teaching and understanding of our cultural heritage to young people in as interesting a manner as possible; consequently encourages the use, whenever possible and wherever suitable, of modern technology using light, sound, computers and other electronic media;

23.Points out that cultural activities must also be developed for older people, for example a 'Europe and the Elderly' programme so that they can make a significant contribution to culture in Europe from their life experience and by means of dialogue with young people;

24.Stresses the importance of cultural 'networks'; looks forward to the results of the study being prepared by the Commission and urges that its findings be used to ensure clearer definitions of networks and what is to be expected from them and considers it necessary that these networks should be formed by associations which can enter into full dialogue with the European Commission based on their own social role and that they should benefit from realistic levels of support which will enable them to operate;

25.Expresses its support for the work being done in the area of literary translation and the use of long-life paper; recalls the importance of promoting books for children and young people; and urges the Commission to provide assistance for literary festivals and writers' forums;

26.Calls on the Commission to submit proposals for the library sector, taking into account and maintaining its support for the achievements of the library portion of the Telematic Programme within the third and fourth R & D Framework Programmes, with as its main aims the harmonization of cataloguing systems, greater use of computerization, the interconnection of systems, the systematic use of microfilm, measures to facilitate inter-library loans among the major libraries of Community countries and the creation of travelling libraries, particularly in rural or isolated areas;

27.Emphasizes that historical archives should also be appropriately modernized and up-to-date inventories of their stocks published, and that they should be open to attested researchers and the deadline by which documents must be made available for consultation shortened;

28.Recommends that, as far as the heritage is concerned, the reductive perspective of providing support exclusively for pilot projects be abandoned and that a policy be initiated which takes account of the impact of other Community policies on the heritage; that European cultural guides be drawn up; that children and teenagers be made aware of heritage issues; and that cooperation with overseas countries with which the Member States have historical links be promoted, and calls on the Commission to take into account the recommendations of its aforementioned resolution of 12 February 1993 in formulating its action on heritage;

29.Advocates, in the museum sector, the organization of travelling exhibitions at Community level; supports the establishment of a computerized network to provide information of a cultural nature and information relating to thefts and auctions; and suggests that consideration be given to providing guarantees at Community level to enable major exhibitions to take place;

30.Believes that Community measures in the music, theatre and dance sectors should encourage joint initiatives, co-productions, exchanges, meetings and workshops by making financial contributions to projects involving professionals from various countries, support experimental initiatives, which are the main creative sources of new forms of expression, promote training and encourage works for children and teenagers and enable less well-known, costly or difficult works to be rendered accessible to the greatest number of people;

31.Recalls that all the arts must be included in Community education programmes and in particular in ERASMUS and calls for the support of initiatives which promote folk music and better understanding of classical and contemporary music;

32.Advocates greater and more far-sighted coordination of the Community's efforts in the audiovisual sector in order to cope with its diverse demands; welcomes the decision in principle of the Council of Ministers regarding the second phase of the MEDIA programme; hopes that the Commission will continue its efforts in the area of high definition television and the promotion of audiovisual production in the 16/9 format; expects that the Commission will not extend the exemption granted to United International Pictures Ltd. and also demands that specific actions be developed which will strengthen the cultural role of public broadcasting in Europe;

33.Considers that the promoting of a European identity, whilst actively preserving national, regional and/or local identities, calls for comparative studies, for example in European history, comparative literature and schools or movements in European art, and requires such studies to be encouraged and their organization to be given support;

34.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, Council and the governments of the Member States.