91998E0205

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0205/98 by Rainer Wieland (PPE) to the Commission (11 February 1998)

Subject: Financing mother-tongue teaching abroad - mother-tongue teaching in the consular district of Stuttgart (Germany)

In the consular district of Stuttgart (Germany) the Italian government intends to transfer the teaching of 9 600 Italian children from the Italian Cultural Institute to private organizations (Esslinger Zeitung of 4 December 1997; letter from Mr Virga (Stuttgart) to the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport of the Land of Baden-Württemberg).

What appropriations are used to fund the mother-tongue teaching of Union citizens living in other countries?

If this teaching is funded by Union appropriations, what is the amount involved and what are the rules for granting and spending the funds?

If this teaching is only partially funded by Union money, is transferring the way the teaching is organized (and the way in which it is performed) to a private body such as an association legally acceptable?

Is this transfer in line with the Commission's political thinking?

Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission (24 March 1998)

The Commission acknowledges the concern expressed by the Honourable Member about the teaching of Italian in the region of Stuttgart, but it has no competence to question the legitimacy of this decision.

According to Article 126 of the EC Treaty, Member States have exclusive responsibility for the content of teaching and the organisation of educational systems and their cultural and linguistic diversity.

Moreover, Council Directive 77/486/CEE of 25 July 1977 on the education of the children of migrant workers ((OJ L 199, 6.8.1977. )), envisages, in Article 3, that Member States shall, in accordance with their national circumstances and legal systems, and in cooperation with States of origin, take appropriate measures to promote, in coordination with normal education, teaching of mother tongue and culture.