European culture policy: actions speak louder than words

In Brussels, developing a strategy for cultural policy of the EU has been an ongoing process for years now – which is just as well because artists and creative minds in the member states will benefit from a stronger cultural awareness in Brussels. The German culture council has often analysed this development and has admonished the European commission to pay attention to the cultural compatibility of all departments and to include actors from the civil society more into policy making. Such demands are important, since culture has become more of a driving force regarding diverse socio-political objectives. This function is acknowledged in Brussels and should be accompanied critically by the cultural associations. At the same time, the German cultural associations have to take a more active part in the political events in Brussels to make their voices heard - the demanded cultural compatibility can only be granted that way: actions speak louder than words.

The basis for negotiations: strategy for cultural policy

But first: do we need a European strategy for cultural policy at all?

Counter question: what if there wasn’t any? Important decisions 
made in Brussels influence the future of artists, people involved in culture, and cultural institutions in Germany, including such things
like copyright and fiscal law, the regulation of audiovisual media services, and net neutrality. So, it is necessary that the responsible parties in Brussels are interested in arts and culture and develop an appreciation of the potentials, characteristics, and needs of these fields.

Furthermore, life in Europe has been marked by an exchange of ideas and cultural goods for centuries. „Before Europe had become an economic union, or even before it was shaped by economic or trade interests, culture united all European countries. Fine arts, literature, music – they are the glue keeping Europe together.“ - the European agenda for culture uses this quote by Dario Fo. If the European cultural policy protects and promotes common values and the cultural and linguistic diversity of Europe, cultural life in the member states will benefit from that.

Without a central coordination, the member states wouldn’t have been able to contribute to the implementation of the UNESCO convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions which is a milestone in the process of protecting worldwide cultural expressions against the market dynamics of international free trade. This common representation of interests will also be of future importance. 

Thirdly, there are other reasons for the development of a European cultural policy. „Project Europe“ has come to a crossroad. The process of integration can only advance in case the citizens do identify themselves more with Europe. An awareness of common cultural grounds can ensure that. "Nobody falls in love with the domestic market", Jacques Delors once said. This is a key sentence for the EU’s commitment to cultural policy. 

European agenda for culture and German cultural associations

Considering all of the above mentioned – how about the actual implementation process of the European agenda for culture? And how about the interests of the German cultural associations?

When reading the EU plans which are analysed in the p/u/k article „Wo geht’s hin mit der europäischen Kulturpolitik“ in the magazine’s last issue, it gets obvious: art and culture are supposed to help with the implementation of the „Strategy Europe 2020 for employment and intelligent, sustainable and inclusive expansion”.

In order to achieve that, the directorate-general for education and culture has dealt with the external effects of culture. With a series of studies, the impact of culture on the job market development, competitive capacity, innovation capability, and regional development was considered to be positive. That caused other political departments to have an increased interest in the potentials of culture – for example, the directorate-general for enterprise and industry, but also the ones for research and innovation, regional development, and external relations.

The „European Creative Industries Alliance“ which has just been launched, shows this development. As of summer 2011, it is supposed to analyse and promote innovation effects caused by the cultural and creative industry and influencing other economical sectors. Until 2020, the commission intends to mobilise 100 million Euros. The initiative helps cultural and creative enterprises to explore new markets and demonstrates the relevance of the cultural and creative industry. Of course it is obvious the financial support of such initiatives is just meant to amend the promotion of cultural activities – think of the cultural programme – and not to replace them.
 

Balancing the lobbyists 

To grant that, it is necessary to have a more active cultural representation in Brussels which also has to consider the influence of powerful lobbies – like the US media groups, or the technology sector – and a respective balance when it comes to legal framework.

The cultural council knows that and has confirmed its willingness to cooperate regarding the implementation of the European strategy, and it also has requested a stronger commitment in re cultural policy of the German states in Brussels. The European commission was urged to be responsive to demands by cultural associations.
 

Insufficient exchange with the civil society?

The above-mentioned article criticises that the new schedule of the European ministers of culture lacks a sufficient necessary exchange with the organised civil society.

That is correct. The schedule contains but few information on this exchange – but the dialogue is extensively discussed in a report on the agenda for culture which the commission released in the middle of 2010 already. This report also deals with the important question of alternative financing options for the activities of the civil society „platforms“ which unite the cultural representation associations on the EU level.

The cultural associations of the member states are mostly not represented in these platforms. A direct integration of the culture council also seems to be difficult due to the fact that other European states rarely have comparable umbrella associations.

Conclusion: all processes of consultation between politics and civil society are improvable. But Brussels really tries to achieve a dialogue with the respective cultural representatives. Yet, artists, people involved in the world of culture, and cultural institutions in all member states do face enormous challenges. A stronger commitment by the German culture council and the German culture associations is urgently necessary – especially beyond the formal procedures already described. In Brussels (as in Berlin), representation of interests happens on diverse levels. If a cultural association of an important sector has ten employees in Berlin, but no direct representative in Brussels, that doesn’t reflect the European reality regarding cultural policy. So, some of the protagonists should increase their commitment in Brussels – the artists and the cultural world will appreciate that.


JAN RUNGE works as freelance consultant in Brussels, focusing on cultural and media policy:
Spectrum – Research, Analysis & Project Development

top photo: Xaf   (flickr)
photo 1: Cayetano (flickr)
photo 2: centralasian (flickr) 
photo 3: maltman23 (flickr)
photo 4: dulnam (flickr)
some rights reserved
 

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