Community action programme 1997-1998 in the fields of books and reading, ARIANE

The purpose of this proposal for a decision by the European Parliament and the Council is to establish a five-year programme (1996-2000) to support books and reading entitled "ARIANE". This programme aims to: - encourage wider distribution of contemporary literary works which are representative of the culture of the Member States, giving priority to translations of works written in the less widely used languages of the Community. The symbolic measure in this programme is the "Aristéion Prize" (a European literature and translation prize) for developing and disseminating the richness and diversity of European literary creation through translation; - promote the dissemination of contemporary dramatic works through translation, in order to present the European public with a diversified repertoire which is representative of the cultures of the Member States; - promote the dissemination of reference works in order to improve knowledge of the culture and history of the people of Europe; - support and supplement efforts taken at national and regional level with a series of actions at Community level, mainly in the field of cooperation in the form of networks and partnerships, training and further training and research and studies in order to support and properly supplement Community dissemination and development actions upstream and downstream; - promote cooperation between the Community and the Member States and third countries and the relevant international organizations (Council of Europe, associated countries of eastern Europe, Latin America and the Community of Independent States of the former USSR). The Commission proposes a budget of ECU 34 million over 5 years for this programme.�