Council of Europe

The Council of Europe is the continent's oldest political organisation founded in 1949 which aims to work for greater unity between the peoples of Europe, to protect democracy and human rights and to improve living conditions.  The original 10 member states has expanded to 47 countries and 5 observer status countries (the Holy See, the United States, Canada, Japan and Mexico). There are currently two open applications for membership from Belarus and Montenegro.

In 1955, the European Cultural Convention came into force as the prime instrument through which the European states, whether members of the Council of Europe or not, expressed their commitment to cultural co-operation. It continues to provide a legal framework for the Council in fields such as human rights, education, the media and cultural action (incl. heritage).  In 2005, the Council of Europe and its member states celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the European Cultural Convention with two Ministerial Conferences (Faro and Wroclaw), a Council of Europe Summit with Heads of State and Government (Warsaw) and a series of brainstorming workshops with cultural policy experts and intellectuals (Strasbourg).

The Council for Cultural Co-operation (CDCC) was set up in 1961 as a committee of governmental representatives within the Council and was responsible for setting the agenda for action in the fields of education, culture, media, sport and youth.  In 2001, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe decided to transform the Council for Cultural Co-operation (CDCC) and its specialised Committees into four Steering Committees; including the current Steering Committee for Culture (CDCULT) which has a "hands-on" mandate to develop programmes for cultural co-operation.  The 2006 terms of reference for the CDCULT indicated that the Committee "shall be responsible for activities related to cultural policy and action and follow-up on their implementation, monitoring and evaluation" and that its work "shall focus on cultural policy development and help with its implementation, standard setting and follow-up" including the:

• Development of cultural policies;
• Assistance in the implementation of cultural policies;
• Development of European standards, principles and good practices; and
• Follow-up of standard setting instruments and standards in the field of culture.

The Council of Europe's activities in the field of culture have been built upon four main principles including: the promotion of identity, support to creativity, respect for diversity of expression and participation in cultural life (democratisation of culture). Via its inter-governmental committees and in-house Directorate of Culture, Cultural and Natural Heritage, the Council has long been involved in the field of cultural policies, most of which can be considered pioneering:

• Challenging the policy debates: 1972 Arc et Senans Declaration on the Future of Cultural Development (updated in 1997); Report of the European Task Force on Culture and Development: In from the Margins: A contribution to the debate on culture and development in Europe, 1997.
• Reflection on national cultural policies and models: European programme on National Cultural Policy Reviews which has produced a wealth of material in this field. Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe, a resource initially promoted to synthesise and update the wealth of information collected in the review programme. Transversal studies go deeper into specific policy developments and issues such as cultural diversity.
• Technical assistance for building national cultural policies through two programmes -- MOSAIC and STAGE -- the Council assists countries in transition to build cultural policies which are founded on the shared principles of the Council of Europe.
• Building the foundations for third sector cultural co-operation: support to initiatives such as CIRCLE - set up in 1980 as the first "network" for cultural policy information exchange - or ENCATC - set up as a network for trainers in cultural management.
• Collection of reference material to assist cultural co-operation: support to the 1985/1995/2000 editions of the Handbook of Cultural Affairs in Europe - a directory of information on the political and administrative structures for cultural policy and cultural co-operation in the 47 member states of the Council of Europe.

While the Council of Europe is not equipped with the resources nor the mandate to provide direct support to artists, it does run a few programmes involving creative artists such as "Apollonia" (facilitating artistic exchange with central and east European countries) or "Pont de l'Europe" (essays from 40 European writers inscribed at the Pont de l'Europe connecting Kehl to Strasbourg).  Since 1954 it has organised over 29 transnational art exhibitions such as "Art and Power:  Europe under Dictators 1930-45". 

Other milestone programmes/projects of the Council of Europe in the field of culture are:  Cultural Routes; Culture and the Neighbourhoods;  European Cinema and EURIMAGES;  Creativity and the Young; the Electronic Publishing, Books and Archives Project (including a network of print-on-demand actors); Information Society and Cultural Policy; European Approaches to Cultural Diversity; Intercultural Dialogue and Conflict Prevention; Creating Cultural Capital.

In May 2005, the 3rd Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe (held in Warsaw, Poland) adopted a political declaration and an action plan proclaiming intercultural dialogue as a central priority for the Organisation in general, and for cultural policy in particular.  In this regard, the DG IV responsible for education, culture and heritage, youth and sport is coordinating a transversal exercise, White Book on Intercultural Dialogue to be published during the latter half of 2007.

In 2006, the Council of Europe - together with the European Commission and the European Youth Forum - launched the "All Different-All Equal Campaign for Diversity, Human Rights and Participation". In the same year it also launched the project "European Heritage Days" together with the European Commission.

For additional information see http://www.coe.int/