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

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In spring 2005 two founding members of the European Union – France and The Netherlands –voted against the proposed Constitutional Treaty, thus provoking, or rather making even morevisible, a crisis in current reflections on the future of the European Union. Even though the DraftConstitution was not supposed to bring any radical changes in the treatment of culture,38 itcertainly represented a step forward in making the European Union a stronger political entityand also making the structure of Europe easier to understand, with the legal integration of theEuropean Union and the European Communities.In relation to culture, the Draft Constitution sought to reaffirm the exclusion of any harmonizationof laws and regulations of member states,39 but also put an obligation on the European Council– the highest body of the European Union – to act unanimously for the negotiation and conclusionof agreements in the field of trade in cultural and audio-visual services where there might be a riskof prejudicing the Union’s cultural and linguistic diversity.40In a way, treatment of culture in the Draft Constitution was only confirming an approach that hasdominated cultural policy-making process in the European Union for several decades and that isthe concept of l’exception culturelle. Even though this term has been used primarily to describeEuropean policy of excluding culture from the international trade negotiations,41 it is possible toclaim that the same logic of excluding culture from òther rules’ was applied internally withinthe EU.Although the concept of l’exception culturelle 42 was not conceived as an integral part of theEuropean Union’s policies, nor was it part of the EU’s formal agenda during the enlargement, itinfluenced the position of culture in that process. The fact that culture was only marginally presentin the EU Treaty and the acquis communautaire, did not provide a foundation for including cultureon the agenda.The question remains: could the European Constitution have gone beyond the current wording ofArticle 151, as proposed in the Ruffolo Report, to forge a new legal framework, in which concernfor the future of culture was translated into more concrete language, including obligations onmember states to respect and promote culture and cultural diversity? 4336Part 2 European Union, culture and cultural policy: the impact of EU enlargement
Cultural issues inthe process of EUenlargementThe background to the 2004 enlargementThe most recent EU enlargement, bringing into the Union in May 2004 ten new member states,was certainly one of the most important moments in the history of the European Union. It waspolitically more sensitive than any enlargement before, not only because of the large number ofcountries simultaneously joining the Union, but also because this meant opening the door forpost-socialist countries and leaving behind the historic division between East and West that haddominated the continent during the second half of the last century. The enlargement took place atthe same time as some very important reforms within the Union itself, including the introduction ofa single currency for most members and negotiations about the future constitution.Suteu’s article about the importance of a cultural approach towards the accession processopened with a quote from the Polish historian Draus, who had pointed out that eastern andwestern Europe had different perceptions of the accession process (Suteu 2002).44 Whereasin the West, concern was directed mainly towards the technical complexity of the process tobe engaged, in the East people gave it more of a meaning of an, `historical act of justice… anacknowledgement of moral duty toward people who went through half a century of communistregimes’ (Draus 2001).Suteu further analyzed the dual nature of this process, on one side a technical EU enlargementand on the other a concept that she called `cultural Europe’. She raises a question of the averageEU citizen’s awareness of the enlargement process and their attitude towards it. In 2005, a yearafter the accession of the ten new member states and a few months after the rejection of the DraftConstitution by the citizens of France and The Netherlands, it is evident that, while the technicalaspects of the enlargement might be steadily progressing towards more functional integration, thepolitical and cultural aspects of the process are still difficult to assess.The background to the 2004 enlargement37
Page 1 and 2: Why we need European cultural polic
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Page 6 and 7: Prologue When I decided to research
Page 8 and 9: If I had the opportunity of startin
Page 10 and 11: Measures directly referring to cult
Page 12 and 13: obstacles encountered during the pe
Page 14 and 15: Part 1Theconceptualframe ofthe stud
Page 16 and 17: argument referred to identifying ex
Page 18 and 19: Gray called for comparative researc
Page 20 and 21: The Council of Europe and comparati
Page 22 and 23: a broader understanding of culture,
Page 24 and 25: The first one is a `macro’ dimens
Page 26 and 27: Part 2European Union,culture andcul
Page 28 and 29: narrow sense - still remains exclud
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Page 44 and 45: Gradual development and introductio
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Page 60 and 61: Preliminary assessmentof the impact
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Page 75 and 76: 1 The French term acquis communauta
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Page 79 and 80: 30 OJ C 336, 19/12/1992.31 1st Repo
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81 32001G0731(01) Council Resolutio
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culture, which needs to be exempt f
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Aubry P, (2000)The `Television with
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Draus F, (2001)Èst-Ouest, le dit e
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Futo P, Cuculić J, et al (2002)Met
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Laher L, (2001)Trapped in the notio
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Puchala D J, (1971)Òf blind men, e
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Weidenfeld W, Wessels W, (1997)Euro
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2. In your opinion, have the cultur
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13. Have there been any changes in
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Annex 3List of CPRA jury membersMil
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Political Economy Cultural Economic
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Annex 4GlossaryAcquis communautaire
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Cultural marketsA term used to desc
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Third countriesEU documents sometim
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Author: Nina ObuljenEditor: Janet H
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