Brussels, 04/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 30 January, Commissioner for Culture Androulla Vassiliou kicked off the European Festivals Association' (EFA) pilot project to develop a European Platform for Festivals in the cultural arena. This project, arising from the European Parliament, will operate in 2014 and 2015 as the “EFFE - Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe”. The commissioner stated that “investing into festivals, and thus into artists and audiences alike, is crucial in our cultural policy vision. EFA's strong proposal was chosen because EFFE will increase citizens' access to the arts and culture, allow artists to reach out to audiences all over Europe, and promote cultural diversity”. The chair of the European Parliament's culture and education committee, Doris Pack (EPP, Germany), a strong supporter of the project, said that, “through EFFE, we will be able to underline the importance of festivals as catalysts for fresh artistic visions and for political and social progress”. EFFE's overall aims are to increase attendance at Europe's diverse festivals by disseminating key information on Europe's arts and cultural festivals, and to enrich the festival landscape and European society by promoting trends in artistic excellence and innovation in festival production. At the end of 2012, the EP voted for a budget line to help breathe life into the European Platform for Festivals and launched a call for proposals in March 2013. Following this launch, the EFA's project was selected. (IL/transl.fl)