Brussels, 03/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - The Commissioner in charge of Culture, Tibor Navracsics, has said that culture will become an indispensable subject in the EU's diplomatic relations with third countries. The European Commission will attempt to develop this aspect in its foreign policy and believes that culture can help facilitate dialogue and improve understanding between different peoples and nations at the very time that the threat of terrorism is in danger of dividing us. On 3 December, Commissioner Navracsics stated: “Cultural diplomacy has to be built on contacts between people. It needs to be a process of mutual learning based on equal partnerships (…) Culture has a crucial role to play in fostering citizenship, good governance and democratisation”.
The Commissioner is taking part in international two-day conference in Echternach, under the auspices of the Luxembourg Presidency, on the role of Culture and Development: Towards a More Strategic and Concerted Approach to Cultural Relations in EU External Relations (3-4 September). The conference seeks to provide an insight into the ways culture and development interact and clarify the links between the subject and the more global context of culture in external relations and look at the question of coherence between different policies. In his speech, Tibor Navracsics highlighted the “paradigm shift” in cultural diplomacy and said that it was “moving away from merely showcasing the excellence of a country. Instead, it is becoming a process of mutual learning and 'co-creation' based on equal partnerships. I believe this is the direction we need to take if we want to live in an inclusive, tolerant society where every citizen is valued”. Navracsics called for a more strategic and concerted approach in cultural relations with partner countries based on trust and credibility and whose objective was the sharing of fundamental values.
Since the publication of the communication European Agenda on Culture in 2007, culture has been seen as a crucial factor in the European Union's external relations. The transversal integration of culture into other sectoral policies is still, however, a challenge that European ministers responsible for culture are still trying to meet. The field involving the EU's external relations is no exception to this, although very encouraging initiatives in this area have already been going in the right direction, explained the Luxembourg Presidency. It added that this area still lacked coordination and that they needed to look at how it could ensure “improved coherence in order to avoid a loss of synergy and resources”. Commissioner Navracsics intends to tackle this question of lost synergy and has indicated that together with Federica Mogherini he will look at “how to create a European strategy for cultural diplomacy that will enhance our external relations”. In a reference to the destruction of cultural and archaeological sites in Syria by Daesh, Tibor Navracsics emphasised how important it was for the survival of cultural heritage in the world to take drastic measures to ensure its protection. In this perspective, he indicated that the Commission was currently looking at enforcing the prohibition of trade in certain cultural goods from Iraq and Syria. He also said that they were considering going further and putting forward legislation that would regulate the import of cultural goods into the EU. Navracsics announced that to achieve this aim they would be launching a study on gaps in national legislations in this area in 2016. (Isabelle Lamberty)