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The economy is Europe's heart, but culture is its soul
09.07.2010, 11:24
09.07.2010 - 'You don't fall in love with the
internal market', Jacques Delors once famously said. Today, the former
President
of the European Commission who stated that 'Europe needs a soul' will
join
Committee of the Regions (CoR) President Mercedes Bresso, regional
politicians
and experts in Avignon for talks on strengthening Europe's cultural
dimension.
Participants will then sign the Avignon declaration, calling for a
strong EU
cultural policy.
Under the title "Which cultural policies for the European regions of today?", the network "Relais Culture Europe" and the renowned Avignon Festival will bring together regional politicians, artists and cultural managers to discuss the way forward for Europe's cultural policy. CoR President Mercedes Bresso, Michèle Sabban, Vice-President of the Regional Council of Ile-de-France and President of the Assembly of European Regions, Paul Bachy, President of the regional council of Champagne-Ardenne and CoR member, and the participating regional and local representatives will then sign the "Avignon declaration". The declaration calls upon the EU to better acknowledge the role of culture and artistic creation in the Europe 2020 strategy and future funding programmes.
CoR President Mercedes Bresso underlined: "As one of the EU's founding fathers said, Europe is not about forming a coalition of states, it is about uniting people. Culture and intercultural dialogue have a key role to play in this process. While our regions and cities fund numerous cultural activities, we also need an ambitious EU policy to complement these efforts."
Faced with the current crisis, President Bresso stressed that local and regional authorities bear a great responsibility to support cultural activities and to maintain European heritage. The cultural sector makes an essential contribution to the competitiveness of our regions and cities by creating a pleasant and dynamic environment, which is a condition for development and often for cohesion.
The EU's cultural dimension is also one of the priorities of the Committee of the Regions' Commission for Education, Youth, Culture and Research (EDUC). To give but two recent examples: Sylva Kováčiková (CZ/EPP), Mayor of Bílovec, is currently drafting an opinion on the potential of cultural and creative industries. In June, the CoR adopted its opinion on the European heritage label, prepared by Mireille Lacombe (FR/PES), Member of Puy-de-Dôme General Council (more information in the press release).
Further information: Relais Culture Europe
Source: www.cor.europa.eu