WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1817/96 by Roberto MEZZAROMA to the Commission. Coordination of and incentives for European cultural institutes
Date: 1996-07-05
Institutions: European Parliament, MEZZAROMA
Subjects: EU aid, European cooperation, cultural transmission, integration of migrants, language teaching













EUR-Lex - 91996E1817 - EN






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91996E1817

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1817/96 by Roberto MEZZAROMA to the Commission. Coordination of and incentives for European cultural institutes  


Official Journal C 345 , 15/11/1996 P. 0107 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-1817/96 by Roberto Mezzaroma (UPE) to the Commission (5 July 1996)Subject: Coordination of and incentives for European cultural institutesMany Community Member States have established specific structures for the dissemination and promotion of their cultures and languages. Among such structures are the 'Alliance française' in France, the 'Goethe Institut' in Germany and the 'Dante Alighieri' in Italy.1. Would not the Commission agree that, with due regard being shown for the autonomy of such institutes, funding should be provided with the specific purpose of providing 'first-aid' language courses for immigrants from non-Community countries who hold a valid residence permit, so as to facilitate their integration into society in the individual Member States?2. Would not it also agree that it should draw up a single certification system for language studies so as to ensure that diplomas obtained from individual institutes in other Member States are valid throughout the Community?Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission (1 August 1996)1. Apart from the European programmes now under way in the field of education, the Commission does not have a legal basis whereby it can provide direct support to national institutions, such as those referred to by the Honourable Member, for the purpose of teaching the language of the host Member State to migrants from third countries.Under the Socrates programme - Chapter II (Comenius), Action 2 - the Commission supports transnational cooperation projects aimed at helping the children of migrant workers to learn the language of the host Member State.2. In Chapter III - Action 1 (Lingua) - of the Annex to Parliament and Council Decision No 819/95/EC of 14 March 1995 ((OJ L 87, 20.4.1995. )) establishing the Socrates programme, provision is made for Community financial assistance to be allocated to transnational projects aiming to improve methods and tools for the recognition of linguistic experience. The Honourable Member may obtain further details on this aspect in the Socrates and Lingua Guidelines for Applicants, Action D.Furthermore, the Commission published at the end of 1995 a White Paper on 'Teaching and learning: towards the knowledge-based society' ((COM (95) 590 final. )), the first general objective of which is to encourage the acquisition of new knowledge. It is proposed to open up new methods of recognising skills, the idea being to pinpoint a number of well-defined areas of knowledge (including languages) and to launch a 'personal skills card' project; such a document should allow individuals to have their knowledge and know-how recognised as and when acquired.