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

Gradual development and introduction of new measures of media policy were also partly inspiredby the jurisprudence and rulings of the European courts. Similarly, changes happening as aconsequence of enforcing regulations in other policy fields, such as for example competitionrules, are also evolving and it is only after enforcement and implementation of the acquiscommunautaire that it will be possible to monitor and assess properly the possible impact onculture and cultural policies.The questionnaire resultsThe first part of the questionnaire aimed to gather information about respondents’ overallassessment of the impact of the enlargement.The first question asked, `How do you assess the impact of the EU enlargement on culturalpolicies?’ (An accompanying letter explained the context of the questionnaire.)This required individual assessment, as it was clear that there was no data or surveys to informtheir responses. The responses were quite varied. Most of the respondents thought that theimpact of the EU enlargement on cultural policies was rather important; some believed that it wasvery important; two respondents believed that it was not important.This range of responses underlines the complexity of the state of European cultural policy,described in earlier chapters. Respondents’ views depended on whether they believe there wasa cultural component to the enlargement. It is evident that in the first period after the accession,changes in cultural policy were not so important, or at least were not yet visible.The second question asked respondents whether, `… the cultural policies of your country beenreformed as a consequence of the accession to the EU to a greater or lesser extent than otherpublic policies?’As anticipated, respondents said almost unanimously that cultural policies had been reformed toa lesser extent then other public policies. One respondent commented that the concept, `otherpublic policies’ was too broad and prevented them from answering.The next two questions asked if, `cultural workers and artists’ [in the respondent’s country hadbeen] `mostly in favour, indifferent to or against the accession?’; and whether there had, `beendebates and discussions among artists and cultural workers about the impact of the accessionon culture?’. If there had indeed been debates, the questionnaire asked, `around which topics didthey focus?’.The answers showed some interesting discrepancies. Most respondents thought that, in general,cultural workers and artists in their respective countries had been in favour of the accession. Atthe same time, most believed that cultural workers and artists had not been adequately informedabout the impact of the accession on cultural policies.46Part 2 The impact of EU enlargement: results of the survey of researchers and policy-makers