The EU commission would like to see 2008 as the year of intercultural dialogue. The proposal, costing some 10 million euro, is now in the hands of the Parliament and the Council.

The idea is to try and raise awareness among particularly young people. The year aims at helping EU citizens "acquire the knowledge and aptitudes to enable them to deal with a more open and more complex environment" and and raise the awareness of European citizens, and all those living in the European Union, of the importance of developing active European citizenship that is "open to the world, respectful of cultural diversity and based on common values".

Under the Commission's plans, the 10m euro would be used for an information campaign, grants for a limited number of actions at EU level (eg major festivals or sporting events) particularly targeted at young people and to co-finance actions at national level with a strong European flavour.

Proposal