Why we need European cultural policies: the impact of EU ...

narrow sense – still remains excluded from harmonization. However, given recent developmentsand changes in structure of cultural markets, it is very difficult to justify such a division andtherefore, for the purpose of this study, it is necessary to treat both aspects as integral elementsof European cultural policy.Besides more technical and methodological questions about what should be consideredwithin the scope of the European Union in the cultural sector, many authors have also lookedat perceptions of the role of culture in the process of European integration. Thus, Kaufman andRaunig argued that one of the main characteristics of the cultural policy of the European Union isthat it seems to be caught up in a condition of ambiguity, `… in a state informed by inconsistencybetween grand ambitions on the one hand and a lack of political pouvoir on the other, betweenfinancial neglect, disinterest and its instrumentalisation as an ideological battlefield’ (Kaufman andRaunig, 2002). They suggested that international cultural activities in Europe and beyond havesignificantly increased, and there is an obvious need to translate the functions that culture shouldand could take into concrete action in response to current political and social developmentswithin the EU as well as in a global context (Kaufman and Raunig ibid).This difficult situation is largely due to the fact that culture is bound to a relativelylimited legal framework at EU level and a more than modest budget is allocated toit ... Because it is of minor importance and yet ideologically highly charged at thesame time, culture is considered a controversial issue – especially when it comesto discussing the division of competencies between the EU and its member states.(Kaufman and Raunig ibid)Mucica raised a question about cultural policy of the European Union in a similar way, highlightingthe fact that the concept of European cultural policy is still considered very controversial:The idea of a `European cultural policy’ has been advanced in recent years,especially in the context of the growing policy-making role of the European Union.But the concept of a common European cultural policy is a highly controversialone, and a number of critics disagree with the notion, considering that what isindeed needed is `European cooperation’, `policies for culture in Europe`, ratherthan a `European cultural policy’.(Mucica 2003)In 2001, a report of the European Parliament offered very interesting reflections on the currentsituation and the future of cultural policies. In this report, Ruffolo, a member of the EuropeanParliament, argued that economic prosperity alone, or the single market and single currency, couldnot have mobilized member states and their citizens for European integration if there had not beena clear political goal behind it (Ruffolo 2001). Such a political union, if it wants to become a realunion, has to enable member states to also share some common cultural values beside simpleeconomic interests. Ruffolo suggested that the formulation of European cultural policy would be of30Part 2 European Union, culture and cultural policy: the impact of EU enlargement