Ján Figel’—Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth

Defining Europe’s role in a globalising world

New Paradigms, New Models—Culture in the EU External Relations

Ljubljana, 13 May 2008

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Ministers,

Excellencies,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I.

It is a great pleasure for me to address you at this conference and share my thoughts on the role of culture in external relations. I feel part of a process that is gaining momentum.

In March 2007, I had the opportunity to participate in The Hague Conference, which launched a process of reflection on external relations and culture. I would like to congratulate the Slovenian Presidency for taking up this important issue and ensuring a follow up to The Hague event.

I am confident that during these two days we will make further progress on how to implement a vision of culture as an essential component of our external relations and I am happy to be able to provide the Commission’s full support for this initiative.

Today, our aim is twofold:

§  On the one hand, we will deepen our strategic discussion on the role of cultural cooperation in our future external relations;

§  On the other hand, we have an excellent opportunity to better understand how culture already fits in our relations with third countries and regions and how existing instruments can be mobilised.

II.

We are in a particularly favourable context to exchange views among policy makers coming from the cultural field, from foreign relations and civil society representatives.

The context is favourable for several reasons:

§  civil–society development and people–to–people contacts are gaining an increasing role in our external relations; be it in the Western Balkans or the ENP, including in the cross border cooperation programmes;

§  the European Agenda for Culture outlined in the Commission Communication adopted last May—promoting both intercultural dialogue and the role of culture in external relations—is starting to be implemented as of this year;

§  we are in the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue and—following the decision of the Euro–Mediterranean Foreign Ministers in November 2007—in the specific context of the “Euro-Mediterranean year of dialogue between cultures”;

§  the ratification of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions is proceeding with a satisfactory pace.

As to this last point, let me stress how happy I am to note that several countries in our neighbourhood have already ratified the Convention and others have announced to launch the process of ratification soon.

We encourage all our partners in the Western Balkans and in the ENP region to proceed with ratification as soon as possible, as the Convention includes fundamental principles and will now constitute the basis for our cooperation with third countries in the field of culture.

III.

As the European Union is developing stronger ties with its neighbours and other partner countries, culture and intercultural dialogue should have an increasing role in our external relations.

It is obvious that intercultural dialogue is relevant not only within the European Union but also in its relations with third countries.

Dialogue between cultures is an essential tool not just for forging closer links among Europeans, but with peoples beyond our borders too. Dialogue is essential for promoting stability and reconciliation within regions facing fragile political situations. This is particularly true for our direct neighbourhood, including the ENP region and the Western Balkans.

Cultural cooperation therefore has a great potential to become a catalyst of the strategic goals of ENP, of the Stabilisation and Association Process in the Western Balkans and of a carefully managed enlargement policy.

Beyond the intrinsic value of culture in itself, cultural projects have the potential to strengthen local civil society, to build capacity and in general to help reform processes, democratisation and good governance. Cultural projects represent a “shared space” where intercultural dialogue can take place.

In this respect, let me highlight the importance of mobility—which represents a priority issue in the context of the European Agenda for Culture, but also in our relations with the ENP region and the Western Balkans.

The mobility of artists and of works of art reinforces networking, promotes people–to–people contacts and fosters good neighbourly relations both between the EU and partner countries and within our neighbourhood itself.

The mobility of artists and the circulation of works of art lead also to economic exchanges and trade of products and services by opening up new opportunities for cultural and creative industries.

Let me also stress the importance of civil society initiatives to boost the cultural element of the EU's external relations. In this context, I would like to commend on the good work done by the "A Soul of Europe" initiative, whose Steering Committee member I am.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I will now focus on the areas where development has been particularly intense with respect to civil society and culture.

IV.

Civil–society development is one of the key areas of the recently adopted Commission Communication entitled “Western Balkans: Enhancing the European perspective”.

Let me just point out that funding of civil–society activities in the Western Balkans over the period 2008–10 will approximately triple compared to the period 2005–07.

The Western Balkans countries and Turkey have the possibility to participate in several Community programmes, including the Culture programme, whose first priority consists in the promotion of intercultural dialogue.

To date, Turkey, Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Serbia have signed MoUs with us and their full participation in our Culture programme is concretely taking shape.

Croatia has also started fully participating in the Europe for Citizens programme and a MoU is being prepared for the Republic of Macedonia and Albania.

Finally, let me mention the joint European Commission–Council of Europe action for the rehabilitation of cultural and historical heritage sites in the Western Balkans, which is a very positive and concrete example of a cultural project having also broader policy implications.

This action in the Balkans is a testimony of our constant endeavour to valorise emblematic heritage sites in order to build bridges between various ethnic and religious communities within and throughout the countries of the region, fostering reconciliation, cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue in this part of Europe.

Together with the Council of Europe we have been supporting this project since 2003; in the framework of this Conference, we will be launching a new phase of our joint action: the so-called “Ljubljana Process”.

V.

Let me now come to the ENP region. In the Eastern part of our neighbourhood, the recent visa facilitation agreements with Ukraine and Moldova (entered into force in January 2008) represent an excellent opportunity for enhancing mobility. It should now be explored how the potential of these agreements can be exploited by the cultural sector.

I would also like to draw your attention to the Black Sea Synergy launched to provide a regional dimension for the Eastern Neighbourhood.

In the Joint Statement of their first meeting—which took place in Kiev on 14 February 2008—Foreign Ministers of EU Member States and of the wider Black Sea area welcomed the first steps of the Black Sea Cross–Border Cooperation Programme which supports civil society activities and people to people contacts.

As to the Mediterranean region, let me stress that we are looking forward to the forthcoming Euromed Culture Ministerial meeting, which is the third in the history of the Barcelona Process.

The event will offer a good opportunity to exchange views on the cultural dimension of the Euromed Partnership, and in particular on the importance of intercultural dialogue in this regard. Mutual knowledge and understanding have a crucial role in building bridges and in overcoming prejudices and cultural barriers in the region.

I truly hope that this Ministerial meeting will reinforce the cultural dimension and launch a political reflection on a coherent strategy in the field of culture.

Building on the positive results achieved on existing activities (EuroMed Audiovisual, the EuroMed Heritage and the creation of the Anna Lindh Foundation) the Conference should mark the starting point for a process, which should lead to the elaboration of a strategy in the near future, encompassing cooperation in the fields of dialogue between cultures and cultural policy.

Along with the principles stated in the UNESCO Convention, this new EuroMed Strategy on Culture should take into account the major concerns of the cultural sector in the region by giving particular attention to capacity building in partner countries and to establishing more balanced cultural exchanges.

VI.

I hope that this Conference will represent a fertile forum for an exchange of views and experience leading us to political conclusions on how to enhance the role of culture in our external relations.

I am also confident that we will share fresh ideas concerning the concrete and practical implementation of our policy objectives.

In parallel with a strategic discussion on how to mainstream culture and intercultural dialogue in our external policies, projects and programmes, our reflection should also focus on how to help the cultural sector to seize the opportunity offered by existing financial instruments designed to support civil society and people–to–people contacts.

Let me conclude by wishing all of you a fruitful conference with the conviction that this will not be a one–off event but that it will be part of a political process and of a series of events focusing on this crucial issue for a Europe, which is defining its role in a globalising world.

Thank you.

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