Brussels, 28/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - On the occasion of its meeting on 26 January in Strasbourg, the Assembly of European Regions (AER) welcomed, in a press release, the adoption by the European Parliament of the report by Austrian Social Democrat Christa Prets on the preservation and promotion of cultural diversity (see EUROPE of 22 January, p.15). AER above all welcomes the request put by the EP to the IGC to consolidate in the draft Constitution the Council's rule of unanimity for negotiating and concluding international agreements in the field of cultural and audiovisual services (such as AGCS/GATS).
Liese Prokop, AER President, noted that the AER campaign in favour of cultural diversity has the support of many European regions, NGOs, Unesco and, at present, the EP. She said the Parliament's resolution "offers the opportunity to modify provisions of the draft Constitution concerning European decision-making processes in the field of culture and of the media; currently these open the way towards liberalisation and further commercialisation in cultural and audiovisual services and are likely to jeopardise cultural and linguistic diversity in Europe".
In its press release, the ARE recalls that it is mainly working toward changing provisions of the draft Constitution with regards culture, education, health and social policies by reintroducing unanimous voting under Article I-16 and by re-establishing shared competencies with the obligation of unanimity under Article III-217 relating to the common commercial policy.
The ARE cites as its priorities for 2004: 1) services of general interest and GATS; 2) cohesion policy (Objective 1 and impact on the new members); 3) interregional cooperation; 4) future of the education policy; 5) future of food production (consumer protection, regional labels, GMF); 6) conference of the presidents of the interregional member organisations; and 7) support and promotion for regionalism in Europe.