On 3 May, France obtained the agreement of the other States of the European Union to set up a network of heritage experts to react more quickly to disasters such as the one that occurred in Paris when Notre-Dame Cathedral caught fire.
“The purpose of this conference was not to ask for fundraising. It was not a donors' conference or a declaration of intent”, said the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Amélie de Montchalin, just before her arrival at the Louvre Museum. “The aim is for Europe to be able to better coordinate its tools for maintaining and renovating heritage throughout Europe”, she continued. “It is a beautiful day for Europe, a beautiful day for culture, a beautiful day for heritage”, concluded French Culture Minister Franck Riester.
A joint declaration was drawn up by the European Ministers of European Affairs and the Ministers of Culture (see EUROPE 12246/16). According to Mr Riester, twenty ministers of Culture have travelled to the meeting.
According to the two ministers, the joint declaration is based on three concrete ideas: 1) create a network of European heritage experts who, in the context of either the preservation of heritage in danger, or a fire or a climatic event, can mobilise very quickly to help a country whose remarkable heritage is threatened; 2) make heritage an issue to be included in all public policies as part of the forthcoming budget negotiations (MFF); 3) strengthen craft industries related to heritage in general, in particular through heritage renovation projects, Erasmus, or the European Solidarity Corps.
On financing, the participants committed themselves in the declaration to “take a closer look at how to facilitate the mobilisation of EU programmes and funding and ensure that they can fully play their role in safeguarding heritage in danger” and they call for “heritage conservation issues to be taken into account in relevant Community policies”.
To read the declaration (in French), go to: http://bit.ly/2VIH51F. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)