Procedure completed
Role | Committee | Rapporteur | Shadows |
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Opinion | JURI | ||
Opinion | RELA | VALDIVIELSO DE CUÉ Jaime (PPE) |
Legal Basis RoP 132
Activites
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1997/02/24
Final act published in Official Journal
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1997/01/30
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
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T4-0030/1997
summary
In adopting the report by Mr José ESCUDERO (PPE, E) on the consideration of cultural aspects in European Community action, the European Parliament expressed its belief that the establishment of a genuine European cultural dimension would only be possible through the introduction of qualified majority voting and felt that the consideration of cultural aspects would in future be a requirement imposed on the European Community. According to Parliament, all Community acts and actions which have a cultural impact must include a clause ensuring they are compatible with the Union's cultural objectives and the Commission must establish a genuine cultural dialogue with NGOs and European cultural foundations. The report calls for the scope of Article 128 of the Treaty concerning culture to be widened. This should be the legal base, or one of the legal bases, for any legislative act with an essentially cultural. objective. In addition, this article should be amended to include a reference to the safeguarding and protection of European languages both inside and outside Europe. Parliament calls on the Commission to include cultural policy as one of the top priorities of the Union's Structural Funds and also asks it to submit in future 'integrated' cultural programmes (i.e. consistent with existing cultural actions and other Community instruments provided for in the TEU). The report reiterates Parliament's conviction that overall funding allocated to the cultural sector should be increased, but without integrating it within the framework of a single specific fund for Community cultural policy. Parliament also proposes that the Commission introduce a law to ensure that, in tenders for any public construction project (road infrastructure, other installations, etc.) which is co-financed by the European Union, 0.5 or 1% of the budget provided from European funds is allocated to the production of a work of art (painting, sculpture or one of the other fine arts) to adorn the project in question. At internal level, the report calls for greater importance to be given to the European dimension of education, television and film. With regard to education in particular, the Commission is asked to draw up a school text book on the history of Europe which, following approval by the Council, would be studied in all Member States (however, Parliament decided not to ask for such a textbook to be made a compulsory subject for study in all education syllabuses). The report also stresses the need for the Community to promote cultural measures outside the European Union in order to promote European cultural models by stressing the cultural heritage inspired by Europe. Finally, the Commission was asked to draw up a cultural policy which has as its main objective the elimination of illiteracy and the promotion of books, by encouraging the introduction of a zero VAT rating and fixed prices for books in homogeneous language areas.�
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T4-0030/1997
summary
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1997/01/29
Debate in Parliament
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Debate in Parliament
summary
The rapporteur, Mr Escudero (EPP, ES), reaffirmed the interdependence between the cultural and political aspects of European construction. Throughout the political history of Europe, the acquisition of citizenship had always been linked to the existence of a common set of cultural values and this argument also applied for European citizenship. The rapporteur then argued for a flexible interpretation of the principle of subsidiarity so that the European Union’s participation in the cultural sphere was not made impossible in practice. In addition, he called for the introduction of a compatibility clause in all common policies which might impact on cultural policies. Finally, as regards the amendments tabled in plenary, he said that he could support two out of the three, particularly the proposal to recommend rather than impose the use, in the educational programmes of Member States, of a European history textbook. This textbook would, however, be written by experts under a Commission initiative. Commissioner Oreja supported the rapporteur’s argument that European construction should focus on the people and all the values of humanism, democracy, human rights and tolerance on which the European model of society was based. He also acknowledged the active role of culture in social cohesion and the fight against unemployment and social exclusion. In this respect, he announced that a Green Paper was being prepared by the Commission. Among the other priorities of the Escudero report which the Commission wanted to support in its cultural policy based on Article 128(4) of the Maastricht Treaty, Mr Oreja highlighted: the idea of creating history courses on the comparative culture of Europe, the proposal to launch integrated programmes tackling different aspects, cohesion, training, technology with cultural aspects and the introduction of a cultural compatibility clause based on the environmental model.
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Debate in Parliament
summary
- #1985
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1997/01/20
Council Meeting
- 1996/12/10 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
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1996/05/08
Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
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1996/04/17
Non-legislative basic document published
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COM(1996)0160
summary
OBJECTIVE: the report considers ways and means of performing the new tasks assigned to the Community by the TEU in the cultural sector, proposing a method for taking account of cultural aspects in defining and implementing Community policies with implications for the field of culture. SUBSTANCE: the report deals specifically with how cultural aspects can be taken into account (within the meaning of Article 128(4) of the TEU) in all Community policies (free movement of goods, taxation, competition policy, etc.), in the Community's internal policies (regional and social policy, advanced technology, environment, tourism, etc.), as well as in the field of foreign policy. In considering these various sectors, the report reaches two conclusions: - that the legislative acts and case law of the Court have in many cases had to reconcile the attainment of the objectives of the TEU with the objectives of cultural policy. In other cases, however, this process has proved difficult because of the economic and commercial nature of the cultural activities concerned, with the result that cultural aspects are given short shrift (e.g. taxation of certain cultural assets, etc.); - that the vast majority of Community policies and actions now have a cultural dimension, with this cultural 'investment' having taken place gradually in the field of economic and social cohesion, environment, research and technology and social policy. The first lessons to be drawn from these conclusions are that: - the cultural aspects of the various Community policies are increasingly important and that most of these policies interact in the cultural sector, mobilizing many operators and substantial resources; - if substantial resources are devoted to cultural activities, the operations concerned are rarely if ever the product of a Community cultural policy as such; - the objectives of European cultural policy must be clearly spelled out and included in the drawing up of genuine Community policies. Cultural policy must include promotional measures adopted under Article 128 but should also include legislative acts adopted with reference to other legal bases. There must be a distinction between the objectives and resources of a Community cultural policy and the Member States' policies in this field. The policy must have its own objectives and must be part of the European project, acting as a force for integration. It must therefore contribute to the consolidation and spread of the European model of society and encourage the preservation of Europe's cultural heritage. It must also give citizens a greater sense of belonging to a single community. The Commission proposes three lines of action to achieve these goals: - enhancement of the cultural roots and currents which are common to Europeans and which play a part in forming the cultural identities and realities of peoples of Europe; - a cultural action making it possible to promote the emergence of permanent networks between the cultural operators in the various countries; - definition of priorities by the Community to increase the convergence of support actions, ensuring greater consistency between cultural activities and avoiding the impression of piecemeal support currently prevalent. Finally, outside the European Union, cultural policy must promote an expansion in the cultural influence of European people and of the European model of society. For its part, the Commission intends to draw inspiration from what has been done in the environment sector, incorporate cultural policy objectives in the proposals for secondary legislation it submits to the Council and the European Parliament, and seek to implement policies with an impact on the cultural sector. �
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COM(1996)0160
summary
Documents
- Non-legislative basic document published: COM(1996)0160
- Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A4-0410/1996
- Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
- Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0030/1997
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