Mr President, I would firstly like to congratulate the Commission, the College of Commissioners and, especially, Mrs Reding, for the work they are doing to break down the barriers caused by restriction and the principle of subsidiarity, with a view to creating joint programmes which move beyond this very concrete world in which the education system is developing. I believe that one of the most complex aspects of the history of Europe – where the same phenomenon is being repeated – is the tendency towards convergence and fragmentation, the tendency to come together and then move apart, to divide up into a thousand pieces. We are living in an era in which there is once again a process of inward-looking nationalism which is opposed to globalisation – clearly a misunderstood concept – and this process tends to divide States and regions. Culture and education are the main victims, since they become confined within their own borders. However, certain programmes can only be carried out from above. Furthermore, the principle of subsidiarity is being wrongly interpreted and, in my judgment, is largely being distorted by States and many regions which use it to increase their own power and – it must be said – to enable the State apparatus to exercise control over thought and the education system. Of course the State must provide free education for all, but it must not exercise absolute control. Let us imagine that aeroplanes could only fly as far as the provincial, regional or national borders. Well, in education we are endeavouring to prevent our cultural knowledge from travelling beyond the border and the result is clearly a broken and fragmented project. I therefore praise, applaud and believe in the idea that we must support the Commission’s vision through ideas, articles and resources, since the Commission is the only supranational body able to act in this field. I believe that one of our first debates should be on subsidiarity, because there is plenty of legal literature on subsidiarity and not just this current popular interpretation of it. Furthermore, I believe that Europe is simply a common way of thinking or, at least, a capacity to communicate. In this respect, I believe – and I would also like to praise the forum which has recently been initiated with companies – that we will not be able to implement this project without private initiative. Since their powers are limited, the States cannot act beyond their own borders. We are now witnessing exactly the same phenomenon in the regions: each region is creating its own intranet (and they are all very proud!), or rather their egonet. The result is therefore a product which is the sum of many things, but the whole is never the sum of all the parts. I therefore ask for a debate to be opened on the principle of subsidiarity, in order to analyse the extent to which this often limits the freedom of our citizens. The companies are the only ones able, with the help of the Commission, to implement projects which fly like eagles above the mountain tops and have a global vision. I believe that a European spirit of convergence, and not one of fragmentation, is our only hope of ensuring that this programme is completed and is not a source of endless frustration. We must make sure that in two years’ time we are not talking about what we wanted to do but were not allowed to.

Political group: PPE-DE