Brussels, 01/10/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Cultural Foundation (ECF) and the European Forum for the Arts and Heritage (EFAH) are organising their first political colloquium in Brussels on 2 October on "Culture in the Future Architecture of Europe", so as to initiate a broad debate on the consequences of the work of the European Convention and enlargement on culture in Europe and the EU's cultural policy. Among the participants in this debate: the Convention's Vice-President Giuliano Amato, the Director General of the European Commission's Education-Culture DG, Nikolaus Van Der Pas, MEPs Genevieve Fraisse, Doris Pack, Roy Perry, Barbara O'Toole, representatives of the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, the current (Danish) and future (Greek) presidencies of the EU, NGOs, cultural agencies, the media, Foundations (like the Fondation Roi Baudouin) and experts.
The work, chaired by Gottfried Wagner (ECF Secretary General) and Dragan Klaic (EFAH President), will be split into three workshops on: (1) the cultural competencies of the EU; (2) "enlargement of minds" - the cultural dimension of EU; (3) intercultural dilemmas and competencies. Participants will, in particular, have to answer the following questions: - can a new Europe be credible and valuable unless it has a new cultural statement?; - EU enlargement will enrich Europe culturally, but will it also mean a new challenge to our ability to communicate across cultures?; - can Europe develop frameworks for intercultural competencies?; - how can politics ensure that Europe's creative diversity becomes a competitive advantage in a globalising world? A plenary session, chaired by Hywell Ceri Jones (The European Police Centre), will draw the conclusions (Info: Frederique Chabaud, EFAH in Brussels. Tel.: 02 534 11 5. Fax: 02 537 49 10. E-mail: efah@skynet.be - Internet: http://www.efah.org ).