Emma McClarkin MEP speaks on culture and education in the European Parliament

East Midlands Conservative MEP Emma McClarkin has today spoken on education and culture in the European Parliament, defending the rights of Member States to decide their own policies.

Emma was speaking after the EU has indicated that it wants to create EU Cultural Attaches in each Member State. This would be a huge waste of time and money at a time when most Member States are implementing savings to their budgets.

Speaking afterwards, Emma said:

“Education is the remit of national governments of Member States, not the EU, and it should be up to the individual Member States to set their own policies in this area.

“Dictating EU-wide educational targets and social policy is far beyond the remit of the EU, and is an unwelcome intrusion on the individual policies of Member States.

“I am a great believer in the power of culture to ensure mutual understanding, spur innovation and economic growth. We have a wealth of culture and creativity in Europe which needs to be fostered and developed, but setting policy and targets at an EU level is not the way to do it.”