Plan to breathe new life into cultural policy

Date: 04/09/1997

By Leyla Linton

LUXEMBOURG has pledged to rescue EU cultural policy from the doldrums during its term at the Union's helm.

Responding to mounting frustration among MEPs and in the European Commission at what they view as the lack of cooperation on cultural initiatives from the Council of Ministers - and in particular Germany - the Grand Duchy has agreed to hold an inter-institutional conference to try to break the deadlock before the end of its EU presidency.

Critics believe that progress on cultural negotiations is continually being obstructed by the fact that proposals for action in the cultural field require the unanimous support of member states in the Council and are a matter for co-decision with the European Parliament, a combination which often produces an impasse. They argue that qualified majority voting in the Council would speed up the process.

Aides to Culture Commissioner Marcelino Oreja say he was very disappointed that EU leaders failed to agree to extend majority voting to culture policy at the June Amsterdam summit because of last-minute objections from German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

A spokesman pointed out that it was Germany which held up progress on funding for the Union's cultural heritage programme, Raphael, although agreement was eventually reached after conciliation talks between the Council and Parliament. He added that ongoing ministerial discussions on the proposed European guarantee fund to boost investment in the EU film industry were also slow due to the opposition of a minority of governments.

Describing the amount of Union funding allocated to culture as “peanuts”, Oreja's spokesman said the Commission did not want to tread on member states' toes, but insisted that some areas of culture were best dealt with at the European level.

Christian Democrat Peter Pex, president of the Parliament's culture committee, argued that the co-decision procedure only worked if both sides voted on the result by majority, given that compromise was necessary to bridge the gap between what MEPs wanted and what the Council of Ministers was prepared to sanction in conciliation talks on contentious issues.

The Dutch MEP, who has expressed anger in the past at Germany's stance, added: “When one party can dictate, it is not a level playing-field.” Pex welcomed the Luxembourg initiative and said he hoped it would mark a new beginning of cooperation.

Germany feels that it is important to examine each cultural proposal carefully as budgets are tight. In the case of the guarantee fund, it believes there are other ways and means of providing money to the film industry, for example through the European Investment Bank. The powerful Länder - which have exclusive competence in the area of culture in Germany - are pleased with the voting status quo in the Council.

But Simon Mundy, vice-president of the European Forum for the Arts and Heritage said: “Germany need have no fear that qualified majority voting would threaten its regional system of cultural provision.”