In a geopolitical context marked by growing tensions, Member States made culture a symbol of European unity, its identity and its values, at the Council meeting dedicated to this subject on Tuesday 13 May.
Invited to lead a policy debate on the issues surrounding the European Commission’s ongoing development of the EU’s ‘Culture Compass’ - an overarching strategic framework to guide and harness the multiple dimensions of culture (see EUROPE 13617/7) - and the future of Creative Europe (2021-2027) - an EU programme to support the cultural and audiovisual sectors - European ministers and representatives responsible for culture affirmed that this sector is a central pillar of European policy and geopolitics.
As such, they believe culture should benefit from substantial investment, in the same way as defence, at a time when the Commission will publish its proposal on the 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework and when technological, environmental and economic upheavals are spreading and weakening it from all sides.
“We spend billions on defence; we must also spend on culture”, insisted Danish Minister for Culture, Jakob Engel-Schmidt.
More than a ‘roadmap’, the future ‘Culture Compass’ must be a political commitment, affirmed the Spanish minister, Ernest Urtasun Domènech. The same is true of France, which, in the words of its minister, Rachida Dati, is calling for both “a political instrument” and “an operational ‘roadmap’”.
This strategy should be coordinated with the Creative Europe programme, which should be strengthened accordingly.
As the Luxembourg minister put it, the future ‘Compass’ and Creative Europe are “two sides of the same coin”.
All the Member States acknowledged the success of this programme, in view of its support for the cultural and creative world and the links it has forged between the various States. However, this cannot continue without a substantial increase in its budget.
Italy, in particular, pointed out that the cultural sector represents eight million jobs in Europe and is “a fundamental public good, a vector of common identity and economic prosperity”.
Several delegations also supported the idea of simplified and equitable access to the programme for small and emerging structures. The Cypriot representative said: “We need equal opportunities for all, between Member States and between different cultural ecosystems”.
Lithuania, Bulgaria, Denmark and Ireland called for sufficient, stable and autonomous funding.
The strengthening of the sectoral approach was also supported, notably by Luxembourg and Greece, which called for greater consideration to be given to the specific characteristics of each sector (audiovisual, performing arts, heritage, media) as well as the integration of culture into other European policies, such as education, digital and climate. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)