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

government, however, they have an increasing opportunity to apply for EU funds,also for cultural ends.’(ERICarts/Council of Europe, 2005)It was reported that Slovenia, directly linked with the requirements of the EU, needed to introduce12 statistical regions. It is unclear if this regionalization will affect cultural development or culturalinfrastructure (ERICarts/Council of Europe ibid). This was a typical example of an indirect impactthat could be incurred by the process of accession.The so-called `Copenhagen Criteria’, for the enlargement of the European Union in 2004,introduced specific political criteria for EU membership, which had not been requested from thosecountries which had joined the Union earlier, such as Austria in 1995. These conditions wereadditional to the need for harmonization with the acquis communautaire. The Copenhagen Criteriawere agreed at the European Council meeting in Copenhagen in 1993. They defined eligibility forEU membership.The Copenhagen Criteria referred, among other things, to the stability of institutions, democracy,the rule of law, human rights and the protection of minorities, which complicated the process ofaccepting new countries into European Union membership (Amann 2002). Many cultural policyprovisions specifically addressed human rights and protection of minorities.The Croatian example showed the relevance of the inclusion of political criteria for culturalpolicies. Discussions about preparing for EU membership highlighted the need for medialegislation and practices to be aligned with EU legislation. In reality, only the field of audio-visualmedia in Croatia had to be harmonized while the remaining demands, especially in the field ofprinted media, only called for respect of the political criteria usually known as `freedom of thepress’ (Perus˘ko C˘ ulek, 1999).Other issues61