Can you tell us about the tasks and responsibilities of the Culture and Education Committee?
We are responsible for the cultural and educational aspects of the European Union. In particular, the improving and dissemination of culture, the protection of cultural heritage and linguistic diversity and the development of Sports policy. In addition to that, we deal with Education policy, including the much beloved Erasmus+ programme and Youth policy. Audio-visual policy and the cultural and educational aspects of the information society are also within our remit. In this field, we have done much to modernise the regulatory environment both for cultural and creative sector and to established a fair, level playing field through the revision of the Audio-visual Media Services Directive.
What are the cultural and educational aspects of “gastronomic heritage”, stemming from the European parliamentary resolution of February 2014, that will be incorporated in your future measures?
The health and wellbeing of the population is influenced by the cultural and educational aspects of nutrition and gastronomy. It is also evident that gastronomy and cooking are an important form of artistic and cultural expression and contribute to the development of our common cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible. And all culinary forms, not only ‘haute cuisine’ should be considered as one of the most important cultural expression of human beings.
How can the transmission and development of European Gastronomic Heritage become part of European culture today? And what role should it play?
Food and cooking are fundamental experience of family and social relationship. Furthermore, it is crucial to develop this experience through culinary education. School children should be encouraged to experience and practice their taste and develop a gastronomic sensibility. This will also help to fight against the consequences of a poor diet or eating disorders.
What are the major challenges ahead for Europe?
Our citizens want to experience in their daily life the added value of the European project. In our field, we need to promote the development of the cultural and creative sectors. This will create more innovation and the creation of quality jobs. In order to achieve that, we need a to adopt the new regulatory framework of Erasmus+ , Solidarity Corps and creative Europe. This will create a solid background for the development of education and culture for the next years. Moreover, we should also work on the legacy of the European Year of Cultural heritage. Finally we need to boost the multiannual budget of key programmes such as Erasmus+ and Creative Europe.
