Mr President, Commissioner, it comes as a relief that the subject of our debate is the common position with regard to financing European cultural organisations and networks. A decision on the issue must really be taken now, so that the organisations that are entitled to funding receive their grants starting this year. I wish to sincerely thank all those whose cooperation in conciliation led to our success at the end of last year. Terence Wynn, the Chairman of the Committee on Budgets, and many others helped enormously. My own collaboration with the Commission and the Council has gone well at the various stages of the process. The Commission proposal for an action programme to promote bodies active in the field of culture became necessary when we switched to an activity-based budget. The cultural organisations, which were formerly financed out of Budget Line A signifying administrative expenditure, need a legal basis for their funding to continue. With the compromise arrived at in conciliation, financing will now be based on a period of three years. During the first two years there will be compliance with the decision made by the Committee on Budgets last autumn regarding beneficiaries, which is to say earmarking; the third year will see a switch over to open application. The legal basis now coming into existence will also permit the financing of the work of the European Bureau of Lesser-Used Languages and the Mercator network, as well as concentration camp sites as historical memorials. The programme’s total budget is EUR 19 million. When the Commission proposal was being discussed it was evident, for example in the view of all the institutions’ legal services, that the earlier procedure, in which Parliament mentions organisations to receive grants by name, does not accord with the new Financial Regulation. I myself am also in favour of the open application method as a matter of principle. Parliament is a legislative body and it is not for us to name individual beneficiaries. It does not meet the requirements of transparency and good administrative practice. Parliament lays down guidelines and evaluates decisions made by the Commission on the basis of reports. Having worked closely with European cultural networks for almost five years, I am convinced of the European added value they produce. It is immensely important that experts and creative people who work in or for museums, cultural administration, art colleges, schools, the theatre and music have an opportunity for cooperation. I believe that cultural networks have an important contribution to make to the success of European enlargement. They are not only important heralds of the diversity of our common European cultural heritage and civilisation but also creators of new ideas. I believe that now that we are finalising a legal basis for funding for three years we can get off to a good start by making sure of the survival of European-wide cultural networks. I am very pleased that the importance of European cultural and educational cooperation is being highlighted in the Commission proposal as a new financial framework in the building of Europe’s future. My warmest thanks and congratulations go to Commissioner Reding for that.

Political group: PSE