The rotating Presidency of the EU Council presented its work priorities to the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education on Tuesday 1 September. No fewer than five ministers or representatives of the German government answered questions put to them for 2 hours by videoconference.
MEPs denounce underfunding of the sector
During the discussion, MEPs were particularly concerned about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the cultural and creative sector and about the recent agreement reached by Heads of State and Government on the 2021-2027 EU budget.
“Covid-19 is a real existential threat to the cultural sector. We cannot abandon this sector. In the negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework, we are not prepared to accept just anything”, said committee chair Sabine Verheyen (EPP, Germany) at the opening of the session. And she concluded with the following sentence: “If we do not double the Erasmus budget, with all that has been planned, we’re going to have to believe in magic. How are we going to do more with less?”
The Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Monika Grütters, acknowledged the harmful effects of the crisis and called for long-term support for these hard-hit sectors. “We need your help to ensure that 'Creative Europe' is not only consolidated as a programme, but that culture is more fully integrated into the recovery programme”, she said, supporting “earmarking” funds. For her part, the Federal Minister of Education and Research, Anja Karliczek, said she shared the disappointment of the MEPs. “We would have liked to have had a bigger budget for Erasmus, but the result has been agreed as a compromise. What is important is that it can start in 2021 and continue.”
German priorities
Ms Karliczek also stressed the impact of the health crisis on education, pointing out that the start of the new school year had since “indeed taken place in most European countries”. She has also promoted vocational education as a quality alternative to the university route. And she said she looked forward to the forthcoming publication of the Digital Literacy Action Plan.
Ms Grütters, for her part, placed great emphasis on quality journalism.
For the rest, the other German representatives presented the main lines of the German work programme entitled ‘Together for European recovery’.
Michelle Müntefering, Minister of State for International Cultural Policy, has floated the idea of including a fund to support cultural initiatives in a European strategy for international cultural relations. She also indicated that she was considering the establishment of a technical rescue mechanism to respond to crises, such as the one in Beirut, Lebanon, and Notre-Dame in France.
State Secretary Stephan Mayer, responsible for Sport, expressed his ambition to support the values of sport, the socio-economic and cross-sectoral dimensions of sport, as well as the promotion of sporting activity and a healthy lifestyle.
The Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Franziska Giffey, stressed the link between young people and democracy. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)