The informal meeting of the EU Ministers of Culture took place on 16 April 2019, at the Palace of Parliament, in Bucharest.The meeting addressed two topics: Financing and innovation for the cultural and creative sectors and Learning from the past, building our future: Europe’s cultural heritage in the spotlight.
In the first working session, devoted to Financing and innovation, ministers stressed the need to ensure a functional ecosystem where the cultural and creative sectors develop solid businesses and unfold their growth potential.
“One of the priorities of the Romanian Presidency is to create new opportunities for Europe’s cultural and creative sectors. The meeting in Bucharest highlighted that the joint efforts of the Member States and the European institutions should be stepped up in order to strengthen the competitive market for cultural creators and professionals and generate new business models and entrepreneurial initiatives that will foster the development of this sector and will attract wider audiences” – Valer Daniel Breaz, Minister of Culture and National Identity.
The second part of the debate focused on cultural heritage. Ministers expressed their sympathy and solidarity with the French people, following the Notre-Dame de Paris tragedy that affected a landmark of Europe’s cultural heritage.
The working session capitalised on the legacy and the dynamics generated by the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018. With more than 18,000 events, reaching 10 million people, this initiative was an unquestionable success. Ministers recognised that the appropriate multi-stakeholder governance framework, the engagement of different parts of our societies and the cross-border cooperation are relevant to safeguard and promote Europe’s cultural heritage.
The large majority of the delegations endorsed the Declaration on the Role of culture in building Europe’s future that highlights the need to take further steps to place culture higher than ever before on the EU political agenda.