Cultural Diversity and EU 2020 - Presentation Philippe Kern at ... - KEA

Cultural Diversity and EU 2020 - Presentation Philippe Kern at EU Observer Conference
26.01.2011
I have been asked to consider whether cultural diversity is part of the EU 2020 project which is to make
a smart, inclusive and sustainable Europe.
People want jobs, prosperity – this requires our economy to grow and our industries to be more
productive and competitive. Can cultural diversity contribute and in which ways?
The premises of this presentation are that the European project is the fruit, the result of tensions
between cultures, identities, ideas. This tension and differences have led to wars between European
nations in the past but has also led to the European project. 60 years later these cultural differences
have made Europe the largest trading bloc in the world and the wealthiest. It is the confrontation, the
pluralism of languages and cultures that has liberated thoughts, promoted intellectual exchanges,
scientific and artistic development, and openness to the world. This diversity should continue to shape
Europe’s destiny and sustain the European dream.
Europe is effectively showing to the world that differences are not a cause of conflict but a condition of
progress. The issue of cultural diversity as a cause of Europe’s successes has yet to be examined
seriously. However the ability of Europeans to work together will determine the success of EU 2020. This
ability is also dependent on the way cultural diversity is managed in policy-making.
Today, economic rationality and globalization trends are questioning the traditional visions on culture
policy and the way cultural goods or services should be treated. At the same time resurgence of
nationalisms, identity crisis, defiance against Europe on cultural grounds is seriously testing the validity
of the EU project (seen by its critics as emblematic of a bureaucratic attempt to support uniformity).
As a consequence, the question of the relationship between cultural diversity and EU’s programme for
the next 7 years puts at stake:
- the consolidation of Europe as a political project
Culture is very present on current debate related to the resurgence of nationalism which
questions the idea of European integration (There is evidence that economic
interdependence does not suffice to create a solid union; Belgium is a good example of
dislocation generated by cultural misunderstanding ).
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- Europe’s innovation potential and the aim of achieving a single market that fosters creativity.
Fundamentally the issue of cultural diversity raises the following concrete questions (in relation to EU
2020 objectives):
1. How do you create a “smart, inclusive and sustainable Europe” if people do not care about their
neighbours? About their cultures? If dialogue between cultures is not perceived as essential.
2. How can the single market, whether digital or analogue, cater for diversity and benefit local
cultural expressions?
3. Should competition policy care about cultural diversity as much as it cares about the impact of
uncompetitive behaviours on consumer prices?
4. Should innovation be led only by technology and science? Are there other forms of innovation in
which Europe excels that stems from its multiple identities and culture and which makes this
continent particularly creative (in fashion, architecture, design, literature, music, games and
applications…)?
The presentation will :
- Review EU 2020 and the flagship initiatives in light of cultural diversity.
- Consider the single market challenges in light of cultural diversity.
- Examine the contribution of cultural diversity to EU 2020.
EU 2020 Strategy – an Architecture without Culture
In March 2010 the European Commission launched the Europe 2020 Strategy to exit the crisis and
prepare the EU economy for the challenges of the next decade. Europe 2020 sets out a vision to achieve
high levels of employment, a low carbon economy, productivity and social cohesion, to be implemented
through concrete actions at EU and national levels. This is battle for growth and jobs, for Europe’s future
position in the world, the relevance of our continent. The EC sets a series of measurable targets to
achieve its objectives.
Whilst cultural diversity does not qualify as a measurable target at least it should be considered as a
means to reaching the inclusiveness and sustainability objectives. For instance the EU 2020 Strategy
could have stated as objectives
- to sustain solidarity amongst Europeans,
- to promote the fecundation potential of cultures as a means of supporting innovation,
creativity, exchange of thoughts, and finally
- to fight the sterilization of cultures (leading to intolerance, “repli sur soi”).
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Culture is present in many places in the regulatory and EC implementation pipelines. It is often hidden
under technical and bureaucratic jargon such as digital rights management, open access, etc. Culture
relates to the following fields:
- Digital single market – which looks into and regulates the circulation of cultural products and
their protection against theft.
- Competition policy – which questions the role of rights management bodies and their cultural
missions.
- State aid – reviewing and vetoing national state aid systems supporting cultural industries.
- Trade relations – which review the treatment of cultural products and services in relation to
trade liberalization (WTO / Unesco )
Whilst there is no mention of culture in the EU 2020 Strategy there is some reference to it in follow up
papers – the so-called flagship initiatives notably.
- Digital Agenda
- Innovation Union Initiative and
- The Regional policy communication implementing the 2020 Strategy.
I propose a rapid analysis from a cultural diversity point of view of the Digital Agenda and Innovation
Union initiatives.
The digital agenda is essentially focused on issues regarded as important for the ICT industry. It is
interesting to draw the attention of policy makers to the fact that the size of the cultural sector is
equivalent to the ICT sector in Europe and that the latter is very much dependent on cultural content to
develop its services, whilst the former is heavily dependent on the latter to protect its intellectual
property. Interdependence has yet to be fully acknowledged in the CIP Programme.
Sector GDP Annual Market
Value
ICT 5% € 660 billion
CULTURE /Creative 3% (2003) € 654 billion (2003)
Source: European Commission, KEA study on the Economy of Culture in Europe.
Each sector employs approx. 6 million people. There are 1.4 million enterprises in the culture sector
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The objective of the Digital Agenda has many cultural implications as it sets out that “Commercial and
cultural content and services need to flow across borders”. The Digital Agenda is also about preserving
heritage (Europeana) by aggregating content and “enabling access”. However the promotion of cultural
diversity is not spelt out as an objective of the Digital Agenda.
With cultural diversity as a goal we would expect policy makers to look into ways for new digital services
(wherever their location) to work towards the support of cultural diversity. For instance the CIP
programme, should ensure that new digital services (wherever their location) work to support cultural
diversity with the view of promoting market access to local content in a variety of languages. The
Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) (http://ec.europa.eu/cip/index_en.htm) is
one of the key funding instruments in support of competitiveness.
The Innovation Union initiative of October 2010 also makes reference to culture and culture-based
creativity by stating:
“Our strengths in design and creativity must be better exploited”.
“We must pursue a broad concept of innovation, both research-driven innovation and innovation
in business models, design, branding and services that add value for users and where
Europe has unique talents”.
“The creativity and diversity of our people and the strength of European creative industries, offer huge
potential for new growth and jobs through innovation, especially for SMEs”.
This shift in thinking on innovation, which takes into consideration non-technological innovation, is
welcomed. It is often non-technological innovation that makes the differences in the market place
(branding, design, applications, entertainment, culture services). This form of innovation is analyzed in
the KEA study “The impact of Culture on Creativity “for the European Commission (2010) (available on
www.keanet.eu) .
The CIP programme should better integrate non-technological innovation in its support mechanisms and
should consider the spill over effects of creativity in cultural industries notably in innovation within the
ICT sector. The importance of branding as a condition for market success should be subject to studies, in
particular in the context of the single market.
The European Commission (DG Enterprise) initiative to establish a European Creative Industries Alliance
– ECIA) to develop new forms of support for creative SMEs and to promote the wider use of creativity
by other sectors is to be welcomed and supported in the context of CIP .
In summary:
- Cultural diversity is at the heart of Europe’s economic success, cultural dialogue contributes to
inclusiveness (social cohesion) and creative industries contribute to innovation.
- Culture, often considered in a restricted sense as “entertainment”or “content”, is instrumental in
achieving other goals: open access, dissemination across frontier, innovation.
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- There is some progress in the apprehension of innovation. However the latter is still focused on ICT
and R&D whilst service innovation is led by experience, emotion, values, creativity in design, brands,
and aesthetic. This modern conception of innovation should translate in more balanced visions of
financial means to support non-technological innovation and investment in culture and creative
industries. The European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund should support
investment in creative and cultural industries.
Innovation:
EU support to Creativity and Innovation
2007-2013 (in € billion):
FP7: 53
CIP: 3.6
Structural Funds: 87
Total: 153.6
Structural Funds: € 347 billion
Culture based Creativity:
CULTURE: 0.4
MEDIA: 0.7
Structural Funds: 6
Total : less than 7.1
At the heart of the cultural diversity objective lies the single market goal. How to reconcile the single
market with this objective? The single market has done little to develop cultural affinity amongst
Europeans, this is a bottleneck preventing the emergence of solidarity amongst Europeans. There is
essentially considerable indifference to neighbourhood cultures. After 60 years of EU integration this is a
failure. Can the single market address this (improve the circulation of local cultural expressions) and
under which conditions?
A single market for “world culture” or a single market for cultural diversity
What is world culture? World culture is the expression to characterize the culture of the best sellers,
the mainstream. Products identified by entertainment companies whether in publishing, music, cinema
as the most likely to travel across frontiers and become world hits.
These products have benefited from the single market more than any others (notably Hollywood films,
or rock/pop music).
Why is this? They are selected by marketing experts (usually located in the US) for their international
potential and appeal and will be subject to intense marketing campaigns throughout the world or main
commercial territories. The products are usually English language productions. As a result Europe is a
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net importer of content and a large number of European countries are adopting measures to protect
their local cultural industries (in particular audiovisual).
Internationally the market share of European content (music or film) is less than 5% in the USA (it is the
European continent that invented cinema, fiction in literature and classical music). Less than 3% of
books published in the US are translations from non English language. European national content
hardly circulates in Europe. Despite the existence of the Media funding programme over the last 20
years, the market share of non-national European films is less than 8%.
It can be concluded that despite Europe, Europeans do not seem interested in the cultural content of
their neighbours or (more likely) that nothing much is being done to stimulate a market demand for
those products. Globalisation is accelerating this trend and the long tail has not yet occurred to the
extent that we can hope for more non-mainstream content on the Internet. The content industry
remains hit driven.
One may argue that cultural indifference is leading a founding member of the EU to the verge of
breaking up (Belgium).
European cultural industries are often marginalized on the world stage because of market and linguistic
fragmentation. The priority for European industry is to create scale in order to be able to fund
international productions with international potential or worldwide marketing campaigns. Scale is also
required to negotiate better deals with distribution platforms that operate internationally, in particular
for SMEs. The single market objective should be used as a tool for achieving scale. However there are
two opposing visions on the single market:
- A vision where Europe is simply a market for world culture.
- Or where Europe is a distinctive space nurturing diversity of expressions.
The reconciliation of single market objectives with cultural diversity remains an important challenge.
It should be added that culture benefits from a regime of regulatory exceptions:
o Copyright is protected from the full application of the principle of free movement of
goods.
o In competition policy ( State Aid is justified for cultural reasons – art 107(d))
o Some cultural products and services benefit from a specific VAT regime (VAT directive)
o State support to cultural industries is shielded from international trade law following the
adoption of the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity.
o AV quotas may limit the free flow of AV programmes on networks (AV Media services
Directive).
In a recent study for DG INFSO on multi-territory licensing and VOD we have highlighted attempts by the
EU regulator to mitigate the impact of this derogatory regime. Culture is often perceived as disruptive to
the single market and competition principles. Examples of attempts to curtail this regime of exceptions
are:
- Country of origin principle.
- Mandatory collective licensing (cable retransmission) to facilitate licensing
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- Principle of exhaustion – to prevent abusive partitioning of the market through territorial exclusivity.
The issue of the single market is often blurred by the idea that availability is sufficient to create a
demand for European content. The Digital Agenda remains focused on opening up access to content
providers. It states: “Consumers expect, rightly, that they can access content online at least as
effectively as in the offline world” or “Europe lacks a unified market in the content sector.”
The Digital Agenda rightly identifies licensing of IP rights as a major issue. However its premises are too
narrow as its assessment remains focused on the aspects of ICT take up and consumer access when it
states for instance: “Consumers can buy CDs in every shop but are often unable to buy music from
online platforms across the EU because rights are licensed on a national basis. This contrasts with the
relatively simple business environment and distribution channels in other regions, notably the US, and
reflects other fragmented markets such as those in Asia.
DG INFSO is right to state that it is imperative to simplify copyright clearance and the management of
cross-border licensing. However it is too partial when it puts the focus only on promotion of ICT take up
or consumer access. The lack of harmonization in copyright protection needs to be reflected upon as
well as the supply issue (diversity, investment in local production, marketing expenses to create a
demand).
The comparison with the US market remains unfortunate as the USA Is essentially a one/two languages
market. It cannot be compared with a market composed of a patchwork of cultures from 27 different
Member States. The single market has to acknowledge this major difference and propose regulation
that takes care of this “constraint”.
The EC decisions in the CISAC case or in the recommendation of 2006 on music licensing have been
adopted in the absence of impact assessment on the cultural consequences of narrow approaches.
These are instances where the regulator’s intervention has made things worse for the operators
whether they are users or right holders.
Therefore it remains to be seen how cultural diversity can contribute to EU 2020 in the context of
policies pursued to establish the internal market and the Digital Agenda. Foremost there is a need to
recognize and apprehend the specificity of cultural industries and institutions with a view to honour
art3.3 of the EU Treaty 1 :
- Market segmentation enables to maximize returns on investment in particular in capital intensive
industries such as cinema/performance rights (acknowledged by the ECJ).
- Linguistic fragmentation makes distribution more difficult and therefore limits consumer access.
- Industrial structure, essentially locally based SMEs (no international and marketing muscles) lack the
scale to benefit from the single market.
1 The Union shall establish an internal market. ….. It shall respect its rich cultural and linguistic diversity, and shall
ensure that Europe's cultural heritage is safeguarded and enhanced.
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The contribution of cultural diversity to EU 2020
Why should Belgium be a country? People in Flanders or in Wallonia are now asking themselves..
Similarly citizens throughout Europe are questioning: why Europe?
Another committee of wise men will tell us that without Europe we stand little chance against the USA
or emerging economies. Is this the only justification? Europe finds its justification at another level: in
the establishment (architecture) of a common desire, shared values and identity, a common will.
How do you go about establishing this common will? Today the solidarity uniting European people is
essentially based on economic and security interests. In the meantime, the mood is changing, people
are claiming more autonomy – in Flanders, Catalonia, Scotland for instance. And Europe needs to listen
to these people in need of identity and who are not necessarily anti-Europeans or fervent nationalists.
The European project will be able to move forward thanks to its ability to provide sufficient space for the
expression of diversity for people to be able to feel comfortable in the Union.
The founding fathers built Europe through the market. They used steel and coal as a means to foster
solidarity. Where would the founding fathers start to cement cooperation and solidarity amongst
European nations if they were to establish the EU today? With culture and ICT? Why culture?
Products are increasingly customized, individualized (requiring differentiation). The new economy is an
economy of experience (as described by economists Pine and Gilmour / Scott Lash and John Urry /
J.Rifkin, O.Bomsel). It is an economy of the immaterial where values and signs are as important as the
functionality of a product. The cultural value of a product becomes as important as its economic value.
Culture-based creativity is an essential feature of a post-industrial economy. A firm needs more than an
efficient manufacturing process, cost-control and a good technological base to remain competitive. It
also requires a strong brand, motivated staff and a management that respects creativity and
understands its process. It also needs the development of products and services that meet citizens’
expectations or that create this expectation.
Digital technologies play an important role in this intangible economy as they provide new forms of
social exchanges and contribute significantly to new expressions of creativity. Of course cultural
production (such as music, publishing and movies) makes new technology more relevant to consumers,
enables the development of new markets and contributes to digital literacy. However the successes of
free and open-source software and services like Wikipedia are also trends that prefigure an economy in
which sharing and exchanging knowledge and skills are not principally based on securing financial gain.
These new forms of exchanges give more importance to social ends and therefore culture-based
creativity. Art and culture (in particular music) is often the basis on which social networking takes place
(peer-to-peer file sharing).
For industry it therefore becomes an imperative to meet and to create new kinds of demand that are
not based merely on the functionality of a product but are instead rooted in individual and collective
aspiration. In this new paradigm, marketing and services are as important as production. This requires
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creative skills and thoughts as productivity gains at manufacturing level are no longer sufficient to
establish a competitive advantage. Culture-based creativity is a powerful means of overturning norms
and conventions with a view to standing out amid intense economic competition. Creative people and
artists are key because they develop the ideas, metaphors and messages which help to drive social
networking and experiences.
The founding fathers would recognize that innovation is a process of interactions and spill over between
different processes.
Creativity – Multi-dimensional
Creativity” is defined as a cross-sector and multidisciplinary way,
mixing elements of “artistic creativity”, “economic innovation” as well
as “technological innovation.”
Scientific creativity
Technological
creativity
Economic creativity Cultural creativity
A process of interactions and spill-over effects between
different innovative processes
The founding fathers would look into what makes Europe so distinct: 100’s of languages, 27
nationalities, 100’s of different cultures – the capacity to be singular. This singularity and difference is a
precious economic and social resource in a world where the industry is looking to differentiate its
product to gain a competitive edge.
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Culture plays an important role in today’s economy that requires non-technological innovation. The
cultural economy is the economy of creative industries which fashion the trade and commercial universe
and which enables companies to stand out whether through branding, design, creative content or user
interface. The economy is about creating the unexpected, the emotional. Creativity is the main driver
of the new economy.
There is still little understanding on the importance of culture in EU’s competitiveness as an economic
sector or as a resource to make products and services more competitive.
Conclusion
Europe will never be built according to the model of the United States – United States of Europe ;
because national and regional singularities will persist. A European will remain proud of his local roots,
his country, local language and culture. The patchwork of cultures is the fabric of Europe, the source of
its successes. Policy makers have to accept this complexity of Europe, not as a fatal destiny but as an
opportunity because this complexity (which has a cost) nourishes creativity and innovation. Pluralism
and openness to influences are distinct features of the European model. This cosmopolitanism is an
extraordinary resource of creativity.
Without understanding the value of culture in creativity, firstly Europe cannot develop a coherent
innovation strategy; secondly it cannot even begin to challenge the premises of current policy thinking.
Europe needs also to focus on non-technological innovation in general and culture-based creativity in
particular. The proposal is to create a Europe that stimulates and encourages creativity and provides
individuals, society, public institutions and enterprises with incentives to build on culture for social and
economic renewal.
Sempé
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The additional challenge for Europe is to make the best of its cultural diversity in the context of
globalisation. To a large extent, Europe’s future is dependent on its ability to transcend local identities
to harness creativity but also to ensure the presence of diverse local identities in an international
context. Europe should remain a central place in the meeting of influences and ideas. At the confluence
Europe increases its creativity and innovation potential.
The diversity of cultures should be cherished as much as bio diversity. In this respect we should inspired
by the provisions of the Treaty on the environment (Art 191) which sets clear objectives and methods
(principle of precaution) to preserve environmental resources.
How will cultural diversity contribute to EU 2020? This depends to a large extent on the way art 167 is
implemented.
Article 167 of the EU Treaty provides:
“ The Union shall contribute to the flowering of the cultures of the Member States, while
respecting their national and regional diversity and at the same time bringing the common
cultural heritage to the fore. ……
….The Union shall take cultural aspects into account in its action under other provisions of the
Treaties, in particular in order to respect and to promote the diversity of its cultures. “...
Are we prepared to:
1. balance “economic rationality” with “economic vision”? Short term efficiency goals may lead to
long term disaster in term of sustainability and inclusiveness,
2. accept that the market, whilst having the capacity to produce wealth, can also destroy valuable
cultural resources, threatening the social fabric, the capacity of culture to create social links and
solidarity? The economic success of Europe will depend on its capacity to work together, to
cooperate, to create solidarities,
3. recognise the cultural challenge Europe is faced with due to globalisation and the digital shift?
The EU is no longer about the circulation of “works” as if works were mere products; it is about
the circulation of « diversity » and singular expressions representative of EU’s diversity and
factor of creativity.
The effects of such acknowledgment enable:
1. to strengthen solidarity – or inclusiveness, with a common ambition based on shared values
(avoid the Belgium or the German/Greek syndrome). A solidarity based only on economic
interest is not the most solid cement.
2. culture to be recognized like research and science as an essential tool to make our society
innovative, sustainable and more “competitive”. US President Obama rightly stated in his
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State of the Union address that the main source of power in the 21 st century is creative
imagination.
These are my proposals for the integration of cultural diversity in EU 2020:
1. Regulatory proposals should include an impact assessment on culture and diversity. The
principle of precaution should be applied as for environment policy.
2. The cultural agenda needs to apprehend the impact of internal market and competition
regulation on cultural industries and institutions.
3. EU policies on innovation need to recognise the cross-sectoral and multi-disciplinary aspects of
“creativity” which mixes elements of “artistic creativity”, “economic” as well as “technological
innovation”
4. EU should establish a creativity index or complement the innovation scoreboard with creativity
indicators. (see KEA suggestion in this respect in the study “The Impact of Culture on
Creativity”).
5. Research and Development, structural funds should be more accessible to creative industries to
implement linkages between creativity and innovation.
6. CIP to fund studies on the importance of brands, creativity and the immaterial in innovation
strategies and competitiveness.
7. Support investment in culture (mandate EIF and EIF)
8. Support our industries to create scale (acting collectively so that they can influence market
development – 25% market share) and make rights licensing less costly. This is operators’
responsibility too.
9. Market and promote national cultural (popular) flagships across frontiers to create empathy and
demand for other national or regional cultures. Celebrate and brand a Creative Europe.
10. Celebrate sub-titling over dubbing to stimulate language learning and curiosity.
www.keanet.eu
www.keablog.com
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