Brussels, 19/11/2008 (Agence Europe) - The European online multimedia library, Europeana, is accessible to the public from this Thursday 20 November. It will be officially inaugurated by President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso, Commissioners Viviane Reding and Leonard Orban, and French Minister for Culture Christine Albanel. It is a unique portal which allows internet users to access, in one click, a multitude of information on the European cultural heritage: literature, art, science, politics, history, architecture, music and cinema. This information is available in various forms, such as books, documents, geographical maps, recordings, pictures and films. Currently, Europeana features 2 million catalogued items, but this number is likely to increase very quickly. In 2010, millions of works are likely to be available via interactive categories such as thematic communities. Mr Barroso described Europeana as "far more than a library, it is a veritable fount of inspiration for the Europeans of the 21st century (...). This is a forceful reminder that culture is at the very heart of European integration". The Europeana project, which was launched by the Commission in 2005 and brought to fruition in close collaboration with national libraries and other cultural bodies of the member states (more than 1000 so far), and with the support of the European Parliament, has enjoyed a generous budget allocated by the Commission for its development. Since 2005, some €30 million every year has gone to help set the project in place and in 2009-2010, €69 million will be allocated for research activities on digital libraries. Meeting for a joint "Education, Culture, Audiovisuals and Youth" Council, the ministers will this Thursday adopt conclusions in order to present the functioning details of Europeana. EUROPE will return to this subject. (I.L./transl.fl.)