No EU cash for parties in year 2000

Date: 15/10/1998

By Renée Cordes

EU MEMBER states or organisations hoping for money from the European Commission to help them mark the dawn of the new millennium will have to look elsewhere for funds.

Officials say Culture Commissioner Marcelino Oreja does not intend to put aside any Union money to help pay for turn-of-the-century celebrations.

“We do not intend to use an extensive amount of public money,” said one official. “It's a very sober and practical approach. We are not going to allocate a lot of money for champagne. That's not what it is about.”

Instead, the Commission plans to commemorate the beginning of the next century by funding long-term youth education programmes, although it is not yet clear how much money will be made available.

“We will try to identify a limited number of initiatives which would be connected to the citizens and we will of course look at young people,” said the official.

Oreja will outline his approach to the millennium festivities in a report to be presented to the full Commission on 28 October, one week later than originally planned. Officials stress that its publication has been delayed for purely administrative reasons, adding that “there are more urgent matters” to attend to.

Given the constant pressure from EU governments for the Commission to keep a tight reign on spending, few if any are likely to be upset by Oreja's decision.

The extent to which individual governments plan to mark the anniversary varies enormously. While the British government is masterminding the construction of a Millennium Dome, the Dutch authorities are not planning any official celebrations at all.

“Nothing is planned and the government is not going to spend any money on celebrations,” said one official, who added that it would be left up to institutions or private companies to organise events if they wanted to.