WRITTEN QUESTION E-0078/00 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. European initiatives to celebrate the work of the writer Giovannino Guareschi.
Date: 2000-01-24
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU policy, Italy, commemoration, cultural policy, cultural prize, literary profession

C 280 E/172

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

3.10.2000

(2000/C 280 E/195)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0078/00

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(24 January 2000)

Subject: European initiatives to celebrate the work of the writer Giovannino Guareschi

The books of the writer, journalist, illustrator and humorist Giovannino Guareschi, which include (cid:145)Favola
di Natale(cid:146) ((cid:145)Christmas Story(cid:146)), written while he was held in a Nazi concentration camp in December 1944,
and the Don Camillo stories, written after the war, have been translated into almost all of the official
languages of
the European Union, as well as into Icelandic, Serbo-Croat, Vietnamese, Arabic and
Lithuanian.

Guareschi(cid:146)s books, writings, cartoons and other works, all of which seek to uphold individual freedoms
and human dignity and to combat totalitarianism in all its forms (from Nazism and Fascism to Stalinist
Communism), form a vital part of Europe(cid:146)s cultural heritage.

In recent years, in places such as Roncole Verdi (Parma), Brescello (Reggio Emilia) and Fontanelle (Parma),
private citizens and public bodies have set up museums, permanent exhibitions and trails to guide tourists
around the (cid:145)Little World(cid:146) (cid:129) the Lower Emilia area of the Po Valley, where Guareschi set his stories.

How does the Commission view the idea of funding cultural projects involving town twinning arrange-
ments and other initiatives between various European countries, aimed at bringing Giovannino Guareschi
and his work to the attention of a new audience?

What are its views on the establishment of a (cid:145)Giovannino Guareschi European Prize(cid:146), sponsored by the
European Union and aimed at artists and humorists whose work makes use of Guareschi(cid:146)s traditional tools
of humour and satire to promote freedom of thought and uphold human dignity?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(28 February 2000)

The Commission may grant support for cultural initiatives only within the framework and according to the
criteria of its existing programmes.

The Commission wishes to draw the attention of the Honourable Member to the fact that, in the course
of March 2000, a call for proposals relating to the first (cid:145)Culture 2000(cid:146) framework programme will be
published in the Official Journal, with Internet consultation also possible.

In the context of the (cid:145)Culture 2000(cid:146) programme, funding earmarked for the field of books, reading and
translation will probably account for around 11 % of the annual budget. Cultural operators hoping to
obtain financial support will thus have an opportunity to present projects in line with the programme(cid:146)s
conditions and criteria.

As far as a prize is concerned, the Honourable Member is advised that, as provided for by the programme,
the Commission will give due consideration to this idea and others, in the course of the year, with a view
to establishing a coherent policy for (cid:145)European cultural prizes(cid:146).

(2000/C 280 E/196)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0080/00

by Mary Banotti (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(18 January 2000)

Subject: European Medicinal Evaluation Agency (EMEA)

Given that (cid:145)early access programmes(cid:146) for new medicinal products are at present subject to national
legislation, which results in serious delays as fifteen different authorities negotiate with pharmaceutical
companies, compared to the USA, where one central authority, the FDA, grants such access and that this