As we celebrate the EU-Japan Year of People-to-People Exchanges, I am pleased to see that once again the Osaka European Film Festival is bringing not only high quality European films to Kansai, but also the people who made them. Actors and directors from the seven films that will premiere here in Osaka will attend the festival and hold discussions with the audience. This will give the Japanese public both a chance to learn more about the filmmakers and their work and the opportunity to learn more about the European Union by direct interaction with its citizens.

Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Information Society and Media, said in an interview recently: "Cultural diversity will remain the soul of Europe for the good reason that Europe is itself a mosaic." The European Unionﾕs audiovisual industry contributes to the cultural diversity of the twenty-five Member States. It also helps boost Europeﾕs creative economy. As such, the European Commission is committed to supporting the European film industry, notably through its MEDIA programme which supports training of professionals, the distribution and promotion of cinematographic works and audiovisual programmes; as well as supporting film festivals.

European films have been extremely popular this year. La Marche de l’empereur has sold over $70 million worth of tickets in the United States alone to become the most popular European documentary to be released in the US. In Japan the film has also been well-received as were other releases such as La Mala educacion, Die Fetten Jahre sind vorbei and Les Choristes which was screened as part of last year’s Osaka European Film Festival. This June also saw the first German Film Festival take place in Tokyo and I am pleased to see that this yearﾕs Osaka European Film Festival will show seven German feature films - including the runaway success Goodbye, Lenin ﾐ to mark the 2005/6 Germany in Japan year. The Osaka European Film Festival annually presents the best of quality European filmmaking. Three of this yearﾕs selection have been shortlisted for the prestigious European Film Awards. Also Pablo Maloﾕs Fr弛 sol de invierno won a Goya (Spanish Oscar) for best new director.

Kansai has always been the cultural heart of Japan. Europe has had strong ties with the region for hundreds of years and the European Commission still attaches great importance to the region including by providing considerable support to the Osaka European Film Festival. This September, the European Commission opened the Second EU Institute in Japan which will also be based in Kansai. The EUIJ Kansai will be run by a consortium of three universities: Kobe University, Kwansei Gakuin University and Osaka University and will offer students the opportunity to learn about the significance of European integration and of the ongoing EU-Japan partnership. I hope that the EUIJ Kansai will serve - like the Osaka European Film Festival - as a bridge between the European Union and the Kansai region.