EU cultural diplomacy needs new impetus, says report
11 Jun 2014 12:19 PM
The European Union and
its Member States stand to gain a great deal by using the 'soft power'
of cultural diplomacy, with benefits for the economy through increased market
access for European cultural and creative industries, strengthened cultural
diversity and the wider sharing of European values.
"Cultural
diplomacy gives us an opportunity to share our European culture and values such
as human rights, diversity and equality with other
countries," said Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for
Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth. "It is also good
for jobs and growth. I urge the future Commission and European Parliament to
implement the report's recommendations."
The recommendations on how to
increase the impact of Europe's cultural
diplomacy include:
-
Better
co-ordination and dedicated staff such as cultural
attachés in EU Delegations;
-
New methods
of funding and
fundraising, including co-funding and public-private
partnerships;
-
Pooling
resources of cultural organisations and
Member States, especially via their cultural institutes and attachés
abroad;
-
Removing barriers to
mobility, for example by facilitating visa requirements for cultural
operators;
-
Connecting with young
people, for example by expanding educational and cultural
exchange programmes;
-
Focusing on cities
and towns to identify key partners;
-
Facilitating exchang
e of experience and best practices between artists from different
countries, cultural managers, journalists or writers;
-
Empowering local
cultural stakeholders by facilitating cooperation with cultural
organisations and/or foundations;
-
Improving monitoring
and evaluation of projects and cultural diplomacy
policies.
Next steps
The report and its
recommendations will be discussed with representatives of the Member States and
European Parliament. In the immediate future, such discussions will take place
at a senior officials' meeting on 17 June under the Greek Presidency and
will continue under the Italian Presidency. A meeting with MEPs will take place
on 25 June.
Background
The report is based on research
in the 28 EU Member States and the following partner
countries:
-
10 strategic partners: Brazil,
Canada, China, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, South Korea and the
United States of America.
-
16 neighbouring countries:
Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon,
Libya, Moldova, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Syria, Tunisia and
Ukraine;
The report was prepared by a
consortium of cultural institutes including the Goethe-Institut, Brussels, BOZAR, Centre for Fine Arts,
Brussels, the British Council, Brussels, The Danish Cultural
Institute, Brussels, and cultural stakeholders such as ECF European
Cultural Foundation, IFA Institut fur
Auslandsbeziehungen, the Institut français, Paris, KEA European
Affairs.
Culture as a key component of
external relations is one of the three strategic objectives of the European Agenda for Culture, a comprehensive policy
framework which has guided the joint work of the Commission and the Member
States since 2007.
For more
information
European Commission: Culture and culture in
external relations
European Commission: Education and
training
Androulla Vassiliou's website
Linkedin: Culture in external
relations
Facebook: Culture in external relations and Creative Europe
Twitter: @VassiliouEU, @Europe_Creative and @Cultextrel