WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1607/98 by Mirja RYYNÄNEN to the Commission. Information in schoolbooks about other EU Member States
Date: 1998-05-11
Institutions: European Parliament, RYYNAENEN
Subjects: EU Member State, access to information, civics, dissemination of information, education policy, modern history, promotion of the European idea, public awareness campaign, school textbook

11.12.98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 386/151

However the Union does devote resources to ensuring safety of aircraft passengers. Therefore what plans does it
have to joint any global activities to monitor the possibility of such future events and take appropriate avoiding
action?

Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission

(16 July 1998)

The Commission is aware of the reports in science literature and in the media about asteroids having a possible
encounter with the planet earth.

This issue would be addressed in Europe by the European space agency (ESA), which also deals with problems of
space debris in its European space operations centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, and in the United States by the
National aeronautics and space administration (NASA).

Within the framework programmes of the Commission on research, technology and development, this question
has not been addressed.

(98/C 386/206)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1607/98

by Mirja Ryyn(cid:228)nen (ELDR) to the Commission

(11 May 1998)

Subject: Information in schoolbooks about other EU Member States

According to press reports in Finland, schoolbooks in use in certain EU Member States contain totally inaccurate
information about Finland. Books in use in France, for example, portray Finland on the basis of pictures from the
1950s and distorted information. There is no mention of our current modern information technology society.

The EU expends considerable amounts of money on education and various programmes and separate information
campaigns. Information campaigns to promote European citizenship cannot be successful if the basic information
provided in schools about other Member States is both inadequate and distorted.

What does the Commission propose to do to ensure that schoolbooks in the Member States contain accurate and
up-to-date basic information about all Member States?

Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission

(15 June 1998)

In relation to the specific content of teaching and didactic materials in a given Member State, the Commission has
no competence to intervene, since this is a field where the subsidiarity principle applies under Article 126 of the
EC Treaty.

Article 126 states that the Community shall contribute to the development of quality education by encouraging
cooperation between Member States. Together with the Socrates programme which encourages cooperation
between Member States, the information network on education in Europe (Eurydice) produces and disseminates
information on systems and reforms in the field of education in the participating Member States. Eurydice has
recently published the third edition of a booklet on the key data in education in the Community, which is based on
the contribution of the participating Member States to the Socrates programme.

However, Article 126 also stipulates that the Community has to respect fully the responsibility of the Member
States for the content of teaching and the organization of education systems.

Nevertheless, the Commission will draw the attention of the educational French authorities to the aspects
underlined by the Honourable Member.