Doc. 10995
28 June 2006

The threatened closing of Council of Europe Library (the Vedovato Library) (Art. 53 of the Rules)

Written Declaration No 381

This written declaration commits only the members who have signed it

1.       The Council of Europe Library (a relevant part of which is the Vedovato Library) is running the danger of closure. Donated to the Council of Europe in 1987 and duly accepted by the Committee of Ministers, it represents an invaluable cultural asset. The subsequent Convention signed in 2004 confirmed the donation and vested the Council with several obligations.

2.       With his letter of 2 May 2006, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe informed Professor Vedovato of the decision to close the Library or move it elsewhere on account of alleged financial restrictions.

3.       The above decision – if implemented – would deprive the Council of Europe of a cultural institution of inestimable value and would be a fact to be very much deprecated, as it would be taken without prior consultation with the organs of the Council of Europe.

4.       The Vedovato Library embodies the soul of a Europe which does not want to neglect its common roots and does not wish to be a mere commercial organisation. Suppressing this centre, which is key to promoting the European identity, is tantamount to drying up the very sources of our future.

5.       For the above reasons, we the undersigned express firm disapproval with respect to the decision to close or move the Vedovato Library, a decision aimed at pursuing insignificant budget economies which would result in a dramatic impoverishment of the objectives of the Council of Europe.

Signed: ¹

AZZOLINI, Claudio, Italy, EPP/CD

BRANGER, Jean-Guy, France, EPP/CD

COLOMBIER, Georges, France, EPP/CD

de PUIG, Lluís Maria, Spain, SOC

DURRIEU, Josette, France, SOC

ELO, Mikko, Finland, SOC

FRUNDA, György, Romania, EPP/CD

GABURRO, Giuseppe, Italy, EPP/CD

GARDETTO, Jean-Charles, Monaco, EPP/CD

GIOVANELLI, Fausto, Italy, SOC

GLESENER, Marcel, Luxembourg, EPP/CD

GUBERT, Renzo, Italy, EPP/CD

HANCOCK, Michael, United Kingdom, ALDE

HÖGMARK, Anders G., Sweden, EPP/CD

HÖRSTER, Joachim, Germany, EPP/CD

IWIŃSKI, Tadeusz, Poland, SOC

KOSACHEV, Konstantin, Russian Federation, EDG

LINDBLAD, Göran, Sweden, EPP/CD/PPE/DC

Lord, RUSSELL-JOHNSTON, Russel, United Kingdom, ALDE

MERCAN, Murat, Turkey, EPP/CD

MIGNON, Jean-Claude, France, EPP/CD

MORGANTI, Fausta, St. Marino, SOC

PAOLETTI TANGHERONI, Patrizia, Italy, EPP/CD

PAPADIMITRIOU, Elsa, Greece, EPP/CD

POURGOURIDES, Christos, Cyprus, EPP/CD

PROVERA, Fiorello, Italy, ALDE

PUCHE, Gabino, Spain, EPP/CD

RIGONI, Andrea, Italy, EPP/CD

SCHERINI, Gianpietro, Italy, EPP/CD

SCHREINER, Bernard, France, EPP/CD

SEVERIN, Adrian, Romania, SOC

Van den BRANDE, Luc, Belgium, EPP/CD

VERMOT-MANGOLD, Ruth-Gaby, Switzerland, SOC

ZAPFL-HELBLING, Rosmarie, Switzerland, EPP/CD

__________________________

Total = 34

¹     SOC: Socialist Group
       EPP/CD: Group of the European People’s Party
      ALDE: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
      EDG: European Democratic Group
      UEL: Group of the Unified European Left
      NR: not registered in a group