L 291/26 Official Journal of the European Communities 24. 10. 97 DECISION No 2085/97/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 6 October 1997 establishing a programme of support, including translation, in the field of books and reading (Ariane) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 128 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('), Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (%), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189D of the Treaty () in the light of the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee on 28 May 1997, (1) Whereas, in the age of the information society, books and reading are still one of the most suitable methods of disseminating knowledge, and the complementary relationship between books and audiovisual technology, and multimedia, must be taken into account; (2) Whereas any Community programme in the field of books needs to take account of their dual function as economic and cultural objects; (3) Whereas reading as a leisure pursuit of particular importance can be encouraged by Community programmes, in particular in the field of education and culture; (4) Whereas it is important to distinguish, in the book production chain, between creation, publishing, translation and  dissemination; whereas  this programme (Ariane) may be viewed as a significant cultural measure to promote books; (5) Whereas the Treaty entrusts the Community with the task of: — contributing to the flowering of the cultures of the Member States, while respecting their national and regional diversity, — encouraging cooperation between Member States and, if necessary, supporting and supplementing their action, particularly as regards artistic and literary creation, (") OJ C 324, 22. 11. 1994, p. 11 and 0] C 279, 25. 10. 1995, p. 7. () OJ C 100, 2. 4. 1996, p. 35. {*) Opinion of the European Parliament of 7 April 1995 (O] C 109, 1. 5. 1995, p. 289), Council Common Position of 27 June 1996 (O] C 264, 11. 9. 1996, p. 34) and Decision of the Euro- pean Parliament of 22 October 1996 (O] C 347, 18. 11. 1996, p- 25). Decision of the European Parliament of 17 July 1997. Council Decision of 24 July 1997. (4 (S — fostering cooperation with third countries and the competent international organizations in the sphere of culture, in particular the Council of Europe; (6) Whereas the promotion of translation and support for targeted initiatives carried out in partnership, particularly between specialist operators in the Euro- pean books and reading sector, contribute to: — knowledge and dissemination of the culture and history of the European peoples, — maintaining the diversity of literary creation and the literary heritage expressed in the various national and regional languages, — intercultural and know-how exchanges exchanges of and whereas such promotion favours the access of citizens — including less-favoured ones — to culture; (7) Whereas it is necessary to contribute towards en- couraging high-quality translation and promotion of literary works within the Community, in particular through improvement of the skills of literary trans- lators as well as of other professionals in the book sector, particularly those who are responsible for the promotion of access by the European citizen to such works; (8) Whereas European literary and translation prizes may contribute to the dissemination of literary works of high merit; (9) Whereas the Community institutions have recog- nized the importance of knowledge and dissemina- tion of literary works, by means of translation in particular, as is apparent from: — the European Parliament Resolution of 10 July 1987 on the Commission communication to the Council on the European dimension with regard to books (%), — the Resolution of the Council and of the Minis- ters responsible for Cultural Affairs meeting within the Council of 9 November 1987 on the promotion of translation of important works of European culture (%), ] C 246, 14. 9. 1987, p. 136. o0 ) ) OJ C 309, 19. 11. 1987, p. 3.