European Parliament resolution on the role of schools and school education in maximising public access to culture (2002/2268(INI))
Date: 2004-02-26
Institutions: Committee on Culture and Education, European Parliament
Subjects: art education, cultural heritage, cultural policy, cultural transmission, education policy, educational system, promotion of the European idea, teaching curriculum

23.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 98 E/179

Thursday 26 February 2004

P5_TA(2004)0120

Schools and access to culture

European Parliament resolution on the role of schools and school education in maximising public
access to culture (2002/2268(INI))

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community and, in particular, to Articles 149,

150 and 151 thereof,

(cid:1) having regard to the Council Resolution of 28 October 1999 on integrating history into the Com-

munity’s cultural action (1),

(cid:1) having regard to the Presidency Conclusions of the Lisbon European Council of 23/24 March 2000,

(cid:1) having regard to Decision No 508/2000/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 Feb-

ruary 2000 on establishing the Culture 2000 Programme (2),

(cid:1) having regard to Decision No 253/2000/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of

24 January 2000 (3) establishing the second phase of the ‘Socrates’ programme,

(cid:1) having regard to its resolution of 16 January 2001 on quality evaluation of school education (4),

(cid:1) having regard to its resolution of 6 February 2002 on education and training systems (5),

(cid:1) having regard to its resolution of 5 September 2002 on the third Commission report on Citizenship

of the Union (6),

(cid:1) having regard to the report from the Commission to the Spring European Council of 21 January 2004

on ‘Delivering Lisbon: reforms for the enlarged Union’ (COM(2004) 29),

(cid:1) having regard to Rule 163 of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:1) having regard to the report of the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport

(A5-0080/2004),

A. whereas the Lisbon European Council in March 2000 set a strategic new goal for the European Union
to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010,

B. whereas the Council meeting on education of 12 February 2001 defined the following three strategic

objectives to obtain the goals set in Lisbon:

(cid:1) increase the quality and effectiveness of education and training systems in the European Union

(cid:1) facilitate the access of all to the education and training systems

(cid:1) open up education and training systems to the wider world,

C. whereas the Education Council adopted in May 2003 five European benchmarks for the attainment of

these objectives,

D. whereas the Commission has pointed out in its Communication ‘Education and Training 2010’
(COM(2003) 685) that there is a shortfall of investment in human resources in the Member States
regarding education,

(1) OJ C 324, 12.11.1999, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 63, 10.3. 2000, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 28, 3.2. 2000, p. 1.
(4) OJ C 262, 18.9. 2001, p. 44.
(5) OJ C 284 E, 21.11. 2002, p. 196.
(6) OJ C 272 E, 13.11. 2003, p. 446.

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E. whereas the Commission has stated in its aforementioned report that there is a clear need for the
Member States to invest more effectively (cid:1) i.e. to identify and invest in those areas of education and
training which produce the greatest results,

F. whereas the respect for and promotion of cultural and linguistic diversity and the sharing of a com-
mon cultural heritage work as a positive force in the integration process and the development of the
EU,

G. whereas the process of European integration and globalisation poses new challenges to the various
European cultures and to the educational systems of the different Member States, not least in promot-
ing awareness of other Member States’ culture and history, without losing sight of the importance of
national culture,

H. whereas according to a 2000 Eurobarometer study (1), the majority of EU citizens do not believe in the

existence of a shared European cultural identity,

I. whereas interest in culture is acquired in childhood and a significant contribution is made to this in
the home environment and at educational institutions, including not only schools but also pre-school
and other institutions,

J. whereas, particularly in densely populated urban areas, many school pupils (or their parents) do not
originate from the country in which they are attending school, which means that schools have a
major cultural role to play in terms of integration; whereas, at the same time, this provides an excel-
lent opportunity for cultural exchange and the development of intercultural understanding,

K. whereas it is possible to stimulate cultural interest at school in particular by organising and participat-
ing in special events such as painting, photography and film competitions, visits by artists to schools,
excursions to places of culture and cultural events in the locality, class trips abroad and pupil
exchange schemes,

L. whereas language teaching, in particular, plays a central role in acquiring an understanding of other
cultures since contact with other languages initially involves contact with other cultural, literary and
artistic works,

Regrets the fact that only 17 % of 15-year-old pupils in the European Union possess the basic edu-

1.
cational skills, namely reading, writing and arithmetic, that conforms with the average set by the OECD;

Calls on Member States, in particular those whose GDP percentage invested in education is lower

2.
than the EU average, to increase investment in human resources in the field of education;

Points out that school education in Europe should place a greater emphasis on achieving a basic
3.
fundamental knowledge of the process of European integration; points out, moreover, that the European
dimension should be present in all school disciplines and not only in those directly linked with this subject
such as history, philosophy, geography, economics, literature and art;

Recalls that languages are the expression of cultural wealth and diversity and confirms its support for

4.
the European Community’s objective of enabling all pupils to learn two languages other than their own;

(1) Eurobarometer Study No cat. NC-31-00-910-EN-C ‘How Europeans See Themselves’.

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5.
Calls on the Member States to provide continuous training for teachers in European integration to
ensure that students from the various EU Member States are provided with a standard basic knowledge of
the subject;

Thursday 26 February 2004

Is of the opinion that projects promoting the teaching of European integration in schools should be

6.
funded not only by cultural and educational EU programmes but also by other relevant programmes;

7.
Believes that within the context of history teaching, there is a need to address the tendency to
concentrate predominantly on the 20th century, at the expense of preceding stages of civilisation which
underpin European culture, literature, philosophy, art and music;

Points out that there is a need to raise awareness within the EU Member States of the history and

8.
culture of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and vice versa;

9.
Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that in European research programmes
encouragement is given to projects concerning the fundamentals of European civilisation such as funda-
mental
legal principles, the history of institutions and education, the rules of coexistence, social and
anthropological practices and artistic manifestations;

Believes that there is a need for European education systems to foster awareness of the cultures and

10.
ways of living of all European peoples and to raise awareness of common European values;

Underlines the contribution made within individual Member States for the respect and promotion

11.
of cultural and linguistic diversity;

Stresses the need to educate young people through cultural activities and structures which are

12.
supported financially by the relevant authorities at all levels;

13.
Notes that the European Youth Programme already encourages awareness of common European
values and works towards developing a sense of European citizenship and recommends that this pro-
gramme be expanded for the benefit of school teachers and school children;

Notes that access to Europe’s cultural heritage is a fundamental precondition to the integration

14.
process and a force for the consolidation of a sense of European citizenship;

Recommends that the knowledge of Europe’s cultural heritage should be a natural component of

15.
the syllabus in schools throughout the EU;

Asks the Commission to draw up a text on the history of European culture (art, philosophy,
16.
science, etc.) which, after adoption by the Council and with due respect for the principle of subsidiarity,
might become a standard subject on the school syllabus in the Member States;

17.
Points to the numerous opportunities offered by schools and education to promote intercultural and
interreligious exchanges between pupils, extending also beyond European cultural borders, thereby con-
tributing to the development of cultural understanding, for example by encouraging children to talk about
their country of origin or the country of origin of their parents, together with their customs and traditions,
and to describe their experiences as foreigners in an unfamiliar cultural context;

18.
Stresses the need to step up active public policies for the conservation of the common cultural
heritage; urges associations recognised in Europe to become more actively involved in conservation and
educational initiatives in respect of the historic and artistic heritage;

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19.
Notes that the Commission’s action ‘Netd@ys Europe’ associates European cinema with schools;
believes that it would be advantageous in this connection, to widen the scope of such projects so as to
encourage cooperation, for example, through school films, introductions to the media professions and
invitations addressed to film directors to visit schools as ‘guest speakers’, etc. Further proposes that the
MEDIA Plus programme should contribute in raising pupils’ awareness and interest in European cinema;
Points out that a Pan-European Children’s Network would be an efficient way to disseminate and raise
awareness of European films of high quality;

Calls on the Member States to promote collaboration between teachers and artists with a view to

20.
encouraging pupils to learn about the performing arts at school in a European context;

21.
Urges the improvement of quality and access to the pedagogical services of museums, theatres,
libraries and other cultural structures; calls on schools to open themselves up to these cultural centres
and institutions, contacts and exchanges which can only be mutually beneficial;

22.
Emphasises that children’s participation in artistic and cultural activities is an important factor in
developing their creative skills and that the development of creative potential benefits their future personal
and professional lives; stresses, in this connection, the importance of cooperation between schools and
homes in greatly helping to achieve this objective;

23. Welcomes the fact that there is a growing recognition at all levels in the EU that the educational
and professional success of individuals depends on development of school curricula which value both
academic and creative abilities alike;

24.
Urges schools, homes, cultural institutions and creative artists and intellectuals to cooperate more
closely in the field of cultural education; urges schools to take greater advantage of the opportunities
offered by the diverse cultural backgrounds of their pupils for the purposes of cultural education;

25.
Stresses the importance of pupil exchange schemes, class trips to other countries and language
teaching in becoming acquainted with and experiencing European and non-European cultures and there-
fore calls on the Member State and European Union authorities to promote such initiatives to a greater
degree;

Considers that music, fine arts and theatre are a fundamental component of the cultures and history
26.
of the individual Member States and of Europe’s cultural heritage and therefore recommends these dis-
ciplines are given a higher priority in school education;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission, and the

27.
governments of the Member States.

P5_TA(2004)0121

EU-Russia relations

European Parliament recommendation to the Council on EU-Russia relations (2003/2230(INI))

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to the Partnership and Co-operation Agreement (PCA) between the European Union

and Russia, which entered into force on 1 December 1997,

(cid:1) having regard to the Common Strategy of the European Union on Russia, the period of application of

which has been extended to 24 June 2004,