Press Release
05/03/2009EPP-ED Group calls for investment in cultural heritage restoration as an opportunity to tackle the economic crisis. Cristina Gutiérrez-Cortines MEP
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This was the main conclusion of the seminar organised today by Cristina Gutiérrez-Cortines MEP, with the participation of experts of the sector, public administrations and town planning managers from Europe and overseas. The conference highlighted that the European institutions could take the lead in introducing protection of cultural heritage as an objective in all the economic recovery plans that are being published.
"A first step for the EU should be to call these investments by their name, because today, a lot of the EU budget money dedicated to preservation of cultural heritage is hidden in projects of protection of the environment, the so-called Urban Programme or the EU Framework Research Programme", explained the Spanish MEP. "The main reason", she added, "is because the EU institutions have never had the courage to consider culture or tourism as policy fields in which they can provide an added value to national policies."
Europe is the place in the world with maybe the most important and richest cultural heritage and its protection and preservation could have a major impact in boosting local economy activities and creating jobs - some of them very specialised - as well as attracting foreign capital by means of tourism. All of this is without taking into account the clear benefits for European citizens who could produce the safeguard of their historic patrimony.
The main speaker at the conference was the President of Heritage Strategies International, Donovan Rypkema, one of the leaders on the economics of cultural heritage, who said that restoration of patrimony is a much better counter cyclical stimulus for the economy than other investments. The main reasons are that this kind of investment has long term benefits, generates jobs and personal income on a local scale, contributes to sustainable development - it is cheaper and more ecological to renovate than to build new buildings -, increases quality of life and, finally, it serves to participate in the global economy at the same time mitigating cultural globalisation.
Dr Romilda Rizzo from the Department of Economics of the University of Catania, Edmundo Werma from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Terje Nypan, Councellor of Cultural Heritage of the Swedish Ministry of Environment, and other experts also participated at the meeting.
"We have a clear message from the experts that investment in cultural heritage is a win-win solution especially in this context of economic downturn, so I expect European politicians to listen to the message", concluded Gutiérrez-Cortines.
For further information:
Cristina Gutiérrez-Cortines MEP, Tel: +32-2-2845594
Pedro López de Pablo, EPP-ED Press Service, Tel: +32-475-493352
Notes to Editors:
The EPP-ED Group is the largest political group in the European Parliament with 288 Members from all 27 Member States.
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