The EU funds provided very limited assistance to the cultural sites they helped. Such is the very “mixed” assessment made by the European Court of Auditors in its Special Report 08/2020, published on Thursday, 23 April. In general, the auditors lament the fact that cultural investment is not seen as a priority, but as “[a] means of promoting economic objectives”.
The report examines the financial and physical viability of 27 projects in seven Member States: Germany, France, Croatia, Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Romania. In particular, it looks at EU aid intended to safeguard and develop European cultural heritage, mainly from the European Regional Development Fund (750 million euros per year between 2010 and 2017).
“Almost half of cultural sites projects would not have been implemented without EU investments”, commented Pietro Russo, the European Court of Auditors member responsible for the report, upon its publication. “However, it is unclear what the EU seeks to achieve through its current initiatives, as they suffer from a lack of focus and coordination,” he added.
Indeed, the auditors note that the coexistence of multiple frameworks that involve different players and that have overlapping periods and objectives is too complex and can be confusing. They also note that the cultural dimension is not considered a priority for ERDF financing, which remains focused on economic and social considerations. In their opinion, investments in cultural sites are thus a means to an end and are only funded when they contribute to improving economic competitiveness or fostering development. Consequently, their recommendations are primarily aimed at addressing these concerns.
See the report: https://bit.ly/2VTWutR (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)