Dialogue and shared values: Conference on dialogue between peoples and cultures

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Two years ago — in March 2002 — I opened a conference on intercultural dialogue here in Brussels. It sought to give fresh momentum to dialogue between cultures — with the Mediterranean as the focus and the background.

The last two years have shown that our intuition and our determination were well-founded. We were right to stress the need for dialogue between peoples and cultures — and how pressing that need was.

Dialogue between cultures and peoples has never been needed more urgently than it is today.

There is no place for complacency, for our achievements have not always matched our ambitions. But we have done a lot since March 2002.

We have set up the Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for dialogue between cultures. It will be based in Alexandria — a city full of symbolism and meaning for the civilisations of the Mediterranean. Standing at the Mediterranean’s crossroads, Alexandria is the place where its cultures have met and enriched each other down the centuries.

The negotiations were protracted and at times even hard going — given the political and symbolic importance of this initiative in this period.

But we never gave up and in the end we achieved our objective, thanks in particular to the fine work of the Irish Presidency.

The Foundation is the first example of an institution in which our partners on all shores of the Mediterranean can work on equal terms on joint actions. It is the first example of a new type of partnership we want to develop through new, special, ever-closer relations with all the countries around the Mediterranean.

Thanks to our Neighbourhood Policy — and over these five years we have worked hard to bring it into being — we want to turn the Mediterranean into a sea of peace. We want to put it back at the heart of our political action, and we want to take full advantage of the momentum that is coming from Asia, which can turn the Mediterranean into a hugely important economic and trading area.

Peace and development across the Mediterranean — starting in Jerusalem and moving on to Baghdad — are vital for achieving a new world balance, which is needed more and more urgently with every passing day.

The Foundation is a key instrument for taking new, practical action and fostering intercultural dialogue. All Euro-Mediterranean partners must now help to make this initiative a success. And the first step is to make sure it has an adequate starting budget.

It is also vital to ensure the Foundation and all involved in its work have total freedom and autonomy.

In addition to the Foundation, we have given a new Euro-Mediterranean dimension to certain Community programmes through Erasmus Mundus and Tempus MEDA.

To some extent, this has foreshadowed the proposal of ours I mentioned — the European Neighbourhood Policy.

Through these initiatives, we are seeking to give stronger focus to the human dimension of our action in the Mediterranean region.

That is also why I set up the High-Level Advisory Group on dialogue between peoples and cultures, which completed its work last November.

The Group drafted a discussion and policy report to impart fresh momentum to relations between the Mediterranean’s peoples and give practical expression to the values they share.

In particular, the Group put forward 20 proposals under three headings, highlighting:

education for learning about diversity and transmitting knowledge of the other,

mobility, exchanges and skills,

the media as an instrument for promoting equality and mutual knowledge.

I take this opportunity to greet the members of the High-Level Advisory Group here today — Malek Chebel, Simone Susskind, Bichara Khader, Pedrag Matvejevic and Fatima Mernissi.

It is no coincidence they have followed up the Group’s work by taking a leading part in discussion here on such absorbing topics as:

networks around the Mediterranean,

the contribution of women and civil society,

citizenship and social changes in Europe, and

young people and religion.

Various participants have contributed significantly to the Commission’s political reflection on what dialogue should actually entail.

As Viviane Reding said yesterday, we Europeans must open up more and more to a pluralist, multipolar world where democracy and dialogue are the guarantees of peace and mutual respect.

And let us bear in mind what José Maria Gil-Robles said about dialogue being a method, a path — not an end in itself.

That is why several speakers have underlined the need to mobilise the largest possible number of actors — politicians, civil society, and those Vice-President Lalumière called the «dialoguers».

As she stressed, no actor is perfect and none is self-contained. They are all needed in a pluralist approach to dialogue with the long-term aim of fostering the emergence of a Euro-Mediterranean public opinion.

Europe — which «has succeeded in unifying itself» — has made its own experience available to the international community. We have heeded the call from Ms Tallawy, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary for the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia.

By putting the human being at the centre of policy-making, the right balance can be struck between the time spent on reflection and the time given over to action.

In the last two years, we have done a lot to put intercultural dialogue at the centre of our new political project for the Union in coming years.

Our proposal for the Union’s policy priorities for 2007 to 2013 aims to give new, practical substance to the concept of European citizenship.

It does this by opening up opportunities for direct experience of what European citizenship and values mean in practice — values such as freedom, mutual respect, tolerance, openness and solidarity.

We aim to do this in particular through intercultural dialogue, people-to-people contacts, youth exchange projects and cross-border projects.

Ideas in the High-Level Advisory Group’s report have inspired various proposals — for instance, to promote and extend the European Voluntary Service around the Mediterranean.

We also aim to open new educational, cultural, media, audiovisual and youth programmes to participants from neighbouring countries.

Ladies and gentlemen,

As I said two years ago, intercultural dialogue is meaningless unless the principle that all cultures enjoy equal dignity is matched by an acknowledgement that every individual enjoys equal rights.

Commitment to dialogue and cooperation is a mark of respect, not a sign of weakness on the part of the Europeans, or that of our Mediterranean partners.

The Union’s commitment to dialogue indicates no lack of courage or conviction among the Europeans, as some would have us believe.

On the contrary, our belief in dialogue stems from respect for the Union’s partners and neighbours and our determination to hold true to our own values.

Tragic developments are unfolding before our eyes in Iraq and the Middle East. They underline the futility and hopelessness of any approach that seeks to assert values by force of arms.

Shared values can only be established through dialogue.

You can propose a system of shared values. You can offer your partners and neighbours the benefit of your soft power.

But no system of values — however commendable — can be imposed unilaterally.

And new walls cannot bring any real security. The way we see it, building peace and security means tearing down the walls.

It means fostering new types of dialogue and cooperation that heal the scars of the past and end the divisions between States and peoples.

Fighting terrorism calls for firmness, because we must defend our values. But it also demands exemplary behaviour in keeping with the values of our democracies.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The European Union has a record it can be proud of. It is a story of peace, mutual understanding and shared commitment.

We are the first example of a democracy that goes beyond national borders.

Our procedures may be slow and cumbersome, but they are profoundly democratic. And they are based on the free will of all the States and peoples that go to make up our Union.

It is our duty to offer our experience and the model we have developed over half a century of life together, for the sake of peace and reconciliation in other parts of the world.

Thank you

Romano Prodi

President of the European Commission

Brussels, 25 May 2004

Source : European Commission