Cultural heritage: Community action programme 1997-2000, Raphaël

In its common position, the Council made certain amendments to the Commission proposal, covering most notably: - the scope of the programme: it assigned a general objective to Raphael, and specified that the programme would aim at 'the encouragement of transnational cooperation in developing new technologies and in preserving traditional cultural heritage trades and techniques' as well as the 'taking into account of the heritage dimension in other Community programmes and policies'; at the same time, it modified the structure of the Annex listing the Actions to be implemented (reducing their number from five to four, bringing in 'networks and partnerships' under Action II). In addition, the resources to be committed under Action I ('Conservation, safeguarding and development of the European cultural heritage through European cooperation') would amount to approximately 50% of the programme's allocated overall budget, Community support being intended to contribute to the added European value of the projects carried out and to the creation of conditions for the development of European know-how; - commitology: on the model of the Socrates, Leonardo, Youth for Europe III and Kaleidoscope committees, the Council opted for the Joint Committee procedure (a committee acting as a Management Committee for certain questions and as an Advisory Committee for others); - duration of the programme and financial allocation: the Council adopted a four-year programme duration as from 1 January 1997 with a financial framework set at ECU 30 m which would be subject to review before the end of the second year in the light of the results achieved. (The Council also agreed to support the entry of an amount of ECU 10 m under the budgetary procedure for 1997 and 1998). As regards the treatment of the EP amendments, the majority of the amendments incorporated by the Commission in its amended proposal was accepted by the Council, in a more or less equivalent form. Not adopted by the Council were, in particular, the following amendments covering: - budgetary provisions, - cooperation between the authorities of the Member States inter se and between the Member States and the authorities of the CCEE to prevent illegal exports of works of art, - support for scripts for television programmes and multimedia projects on the cultural heritage, - study into the situation of restorers with a view to organizing the profession of restorer and training for restorers, - support for craft trades which are essential to the heritage by promoting an association with the industrial sectors producing advanced materials and technologies, - reference to greater use of new technologies in order to limit the damage caused to the heritage by an excessive number of visitors, - exemplary actions in the heritage field, - presentations in museums, monuments and sites, in local languages, - reference to measures to facilitate access to archives for those working in the sector and for the general public. �