Brussels, 31/08/2001 (Agence Europe) - With the adoption of the report by Giorgio Ruffolo (PES, Italy) on cultural cooperation in the EU, the EP Committee on Culture calls on the European Commission to: - present to the European Parliament and to the Council a proposal of recommendation in which it undertakes to submit to these two institutions an annual report on the cultural policies of the EU and Member States. It will invite the Member States to make an active contribution to the development and realisation of a three-year cultural cooperation plan; - create a European Observatory on Cultural Cooperation intended to promote the exchange of information and the conjunction of Member State cultural policies and Community cultural policy; - carry out a study on possible rapprochement, at Community level, of the principles governing the taxation of works of art and artistic work, notably with respect to VAT, as well as the tax provisions governing the movement of artists within the EU. Finally, the parliamentary committee recommends, as the WTO summit draws nearer, that the EU's position should be made quite clear about two essential requirements, namely that of strengthening the competitiveness of the European cultural industry by close cultural cooperation and, in any case, respecting the principle of abuse of dominant position in the trade of cultural goods and services.
The report will be examined on Tuesday 4 September by the EP plenary in Strasbourg.