GERMANY:Irish students could soon be learning history from a common EU textbook which aims to create a stronger sense of European identity.
Germany, the current holder of the six-month EU presidency, will outline its plan for the common textbook at a meeting of EU education ministers in Heidelberg today.
German education minister Annette Schavan is pushing the proposal as a way to foster a shared set of European values. It also has the support of the European Commission and German chancellor Angela Merkel.
The idea comes from a decision taken by French president Jacques Chirac and former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder in 2003 to commission academics to draw up a joint Franco-German history textbook.
This text, Histoire/Geschichte, was published last year, and 60,000 copies have already been distributed to schools in Germany and France. It tells the story of European history from 1945 to the present day and is aimed at 17/18-year-olds.
"The book has been a great success because it exposes different perceptions of history to French and German students," said Janna von Greiffenstern, of the book's publisher, Klett. "We have plans to publish two further joint books in 2008 and 2009."
However, introducing a common textbook for all 27 EU members is likely to prove controversial, as EU states jealously guard their competence in education.
Before arriving at the two informal meetings yesterday, Danish education minister Bertel Haarder said he would oppose the plan. Other EU members, such as Britain and Poland, are also likely to opt out of any attempt to create a single history text for Europe.
A spokeswoman for Minister for Education Mary Hanafin, who is attending the EU meeting, said that the Republic would take no position on the plan until a formal proposal was outlined at an EU education council in Brussels in May.
Independent MEP Marian Harkin said that the plan was an interesting idea, but EU states should not cede their power in terms of moulding the minds of a generation.
"Education, and particularly the subject of history, has always been a vehicle for politics and, sometimes, a smokescreen for a political agenda," she added.
Fine Gael MEP Jim Higgins said that a common textbook was a good idea and would celebrate the success of the EU. He rejected the suggestion that it would prove difficult to agree a common interpretation of Ireland's relationship with Britain.
"Britain has come a long way in its attitude to Ireland. Just look at last week's events in Croke Park. Both nations have mutual respect for one another."