Mr President, Commissioner Kinnock, President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, life and the world do not stop at the European Union’s external borders. That is why dialogue between civilisations and cultures must be strengthened. Following the entry into force of the new Financial Regulation, a basic act or new legal basis is required for actions covered by subsidies from former chapter A-30 of the budget and by subsidies provided under certain B lines. In this context, the Commission has therefore presented a total of seven proposals establishing new action programmes. A dialogue between cultures and civilisations is, now more than ever, of crucial importance when it comes to guaranteeing peace and stability in the world. That is the special contribution and addition that I, in my capacity as rapporteur, wanted to make to the report on establishing a Community action programme for bodies promoting reciprocal understanding of relations between the European Union and certain non-industrialised regions in the world, a report adopted unanimously by the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy on 4 November 2003. The centre, institute or network specialising in the analysis of relations between the European Union and certain regions helps promote dialogue between cultures and civilisations. It is a dialogue that is fundamental and absolutely crucial on this earth and in this world that it is our common responsibility to manage and care for. Dialogue between cultures and civilisations must promote the generally applicable and universal value of human freedoms and rights and the defence of human dignity. The view of human beings upon which the European Union is ultimately based means that every person is of equal, unique and inviolable value. This common basis of values we possess and this shared view of human beings must also operate as a guarantee of respect for different cultures and civilisations. The general objective of this programme shall be to support the activities of these bodies. According to the Commission’s proposal, the activities should consist of those in keeping with the annual work programme of a centre, institute or network. The activities supported must contribute to increasing understanding and dialogue between the European Union, the regions covered by the ALA, MEDA, TACIS and CARDS Regulations and the candidate countries. Here too, we in the European Parliament wish to add words to the effect that the activities must also – and I emphasise this – contribute to reinforcing social, cultural and human partnership and meeting places. We also wish to extend the duration of the programme to 31 December 2008. Publication of the Commission’s evaluation report is accordingly to be moved forward to 31 December 2007, and the appropriations after the year 2006 are subject to an agreement of the budgetary authority on the financial perspective beyond 2006. To achieve the objective of strengthening reciprocal knowledge and understanding, the bodies entitled to subsidies must be deeply acquainted with the cultural, historical, socio-economic and religious characteristics of the regions concerned. That is something I wanted to emphasise in the report. These activities should contribute both to political cooperation and to developing genuine partnership between people. The EU is now already providing financial and technical aid to other parts of the world. In the Council of Ministers, the governments of the Member States said that they attach great importance to these activities and expressed their desire to increase reciprocal knowledge on the part of the EU and partners receiving assistance, as well as to find a legal basis within the EU for doing this. The dialogue and the aid must be supported by bodies and organisations specialising in relations between the EU and the regions concerned. Examples of the activities of such bodies are studies and analyses of EU policy, together with seminars, round-table discussions and publications. Now already, there is a spectrum of bodies and associations engaging in regional cooperation and dialogue. It is therefore becoming more and more important to ensure that these activities are coordinated so as to prevent duplication of effort. Life and the world do not end at the external borders of the Member States or the European Union. That is why dialogue between civilisations and cultures must be strengthened.

Political group: PPE-DE