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18 UNESCOtoday 2|2005
Resolution
Adoption of the ‘UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of
Cultural Expressions’ and work of the Federal Coalition for Cultural Diversity, set up by the
German Commission for UNESCO. Resolution of the 65th General meeting of the German
Commission for UNESCO, Bonn, 7th July 2005
The German Commission for UNESCO
welcomes the successful conclusion of the third session of the intergovernmental meeting of experts, in Paris, on the 3rd
June 2005, by which the text of the preliminary draft for a Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of
Cultural Expressions, binding under international law, was finalised ready for adoption at the 33rd session of the
UNESCO General Conference (3rd-21st October 2005, in Paris);
welcomes the successful negotiations carried out by the Federal Government in the drafting of the Convention, both within
UNESCO and, since November 2004, as part of the EU voting process;
welcomes the concerted action of the 25 EU member states during the negotiations, and the consensus achieved in recognising
the specific nature of cultural goods and services, as well as in not allowing decisions relevant to cultural policy to
be left up to bodies responsible for trade issues;
considers the maintenance and express recognition of Member States’ room for manoeuvre in matters of cultural policy to
be a significant ‘cultural pillar’ in international governance, given the continuing pressures of liberalisation and increasing
calls for deregulation in the context of globalisation;
considers public investment in culture to be indispensable to a pluralistic, participatory democracy;
considers the outcome achieved at the UNESCO negotiations to be an important reference in the continued discussion of a
draft for an EU Services Directive, and calls for a critical examination to be made of the possible consequences for the
cultural and educational sectors during the drafting of this Directive;
welcomes the engagement of the German Parliament and its Committees with the key issues of the UNESCO Convention,
as well as the resulting Plenary Resolution of the German Parliament on the 23rd September 2004;
welcomes the successful work of the Federal Coalition for Cultural Diversity, which has accompanied the process of drafting
the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions with a specialist debate,
which can be considered exemplary for cooperation between civil society, parliament, government experts and responsible
bodies;
thanks all of the experts, institutions and associations which, since 2004, have taken an active part in the work of the
Federal Coalition for Cultural Diversity, and recognises their willingness to continue the work of the Federal Coalition for
Cultural Diversity after the adoption and implementation of the UNESCO Convention;
calls on the Federal Government:
1. as far as possible, to secure the consensus of the UNESCO Member States for the current draft of the Convention at the
33rd session of the General Conference in October 2005,
2. to initiate the ratification procedure for the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural
Expressions ready for its official adoption, and to bring this procedure to a swift outcome,
3. to develop cornerstones for the implementation of the Convention in Germany and
4. to continue to respect the current level of involvement of civil society – for example in the context of the Federal
Coalition for Cultural Diversity;
5. to make use of the experience gained in the UNESCO negotiations on cultural diversity whenever matters regarding
culture and education are affected by international trade negotiations; in particular, such matters are to be taken under
consideration in the continuing negotiations towards a revised EU Services Directive, and the possible consequences of
the Directive on the cultural and education sectors are to be subjected to intense scrutiny.