Brussels, 04/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 3-4 September, four Italian ministers outlined their priorities in the areas of education, culture, audiovisual and youth for the European Parliament's culture committee.
Education: the minister for education, universities and research, Stefania Giannini, outlined the following priorities in her portfolio: the importance of education in underpinning growth in the examination of the EUROPE 2020 strategy; new technologies in education programmes (“Opening up Education”); discussion of the new Erasmus+ programme; emphasis on innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship; well-being and security at school, and the promotion of multilingualism from the earliest age. Entrepreneurship provoked a number of questions. Therese Comodini Cachia (EPP, Malta) underlined the difficulty for young entrepreneurs in taking risks with significant barriers to accessing finance, a concern shared by Marlene Mizzi (S&D, Malta) and Julie Ward (S&D, United Kingdom). Ward believed that incorporating culture and the arts into entrepreneurship would be a positive thing. Petra Kammerevert (S&D, Germany) praised the dual training model in Germany, where financial responsibility for training is also borne by companies and not just the state. She also spoke of the difficulties of mutual recognition of diplomas promoted by the Bologna Process. Krystyna Maria Lybacka (S&D, Poland) supported practical as well as theoretical learning, “so that mobility does not become a dead letter”. Michaela Sojdrova (EPP, Czech Republic) expressed concern about a possible revision of the key objectives in education, which she insisted were good. The importance of new technologies in education system also produced a number of questions, particularly from Mizzi, Kammerevert and Ward.
Culture/Audiovisual: the minister in charge of heritage and cultural activities, Dario Franceschini, said that defence of the European cultural exception, in the context of protecting heritage and the TTIP negotiations, constituted the main priority of the Italian Ppresidency in the cultural arena. An agreement between European countries is expected to be reached, so that the cultural exception can become a long-term strategy for Europe, he said. Italy also intends to take matters forward, so as to promote Creative Europe in the revision of the EUROPE 2020 strategy. The minister referred to developments in new technology and underlined the challenges posed in the area of copyright. Italy will also continue with work to develop the digital Europeana library. Other important points on the agenda include: the mobility of artists and cultural works (with an Erasmus kind of initiative to promote exchanges). Antonello Giacomelli, Secretary of State for Communications, asserted that free access for all to online content represented a priority in the audiovisual field. He also said that the internet should be an open network and area for free exchanges and should not be dominated by the US internet giants. He rejected a purely commercial vision of audiovisual goods and shared the idea of the cultural exception, as argued by Fransceschini. Kammerevert was happy to hear that the ministers defended the cultural exception and deplored the less robust attitude displayed by the European Commission on this point. She also highlighted the importance of defending internet neutrality, a pre-requisite for media diversity, just when negotiations with the Council (on the Connected Continent) are proving “very complicated” on this point. In the area of copyright in the digital environment, Lybacka emphasised the importance of developing cultural awareness among young people so that they became “culturally conscious consumers”. Curzio Maltese (GUE, Italy) called for further reflection to guarantee better working conditions for artists and Bogdan Brunon Wenta (EPP, Poland) called for cultural diversity to be protected and guaranteed access to culture for young people.
Youth: with regard to youth affairs, Secretary of State Luigi Bobba stated that the employability and mobility of young people was essential. He supports the inter-sectoral dimension for youth policy and argues for youth rights in all other policies to be taken into account. In the sporting arena, he called for match fixing to be tackled. Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski (EPP, Poland) welcomed the continuity of the Italian work programme with previous presidencies. He said that very long-term initiatives pursued testified to a responsible and coherent policy. He encouraged the Presidency to seize all opportunities for raising member states' awareness about youth policy. Luigi Morgano (S&D, Italy) also congratulated the Presidency on its choice of continuing with existing initiatives in youth policy. In reply to Isabella Adinolfi (EFDD, Italy), who felt that the youth guarantee had not delivered the results that have been hoped for, Bobba said that the initiative had only been operating a few months and that it would not be before the end of the year that an initial assessment can be made. (IL)