CONCLUSIONS OF THE COUNCIL of 10 November 1994 on the Commission communication concerning European Community action in support of culture (94/C 348/01)

1. The Council has taken note with interest of the Commission communication on Article 128 of the EC Treaty 'European Community action in support of culture' and welcomes the fact that the Commission thereby enables the Council, the European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions to discuss its analysis of Article 128 and of the resulting priorities. The communication sets forth preliminary ideas and suggestions for where emphasis should be placed in the cultural action of the Community. In this connection the Council recalls its conclusions of 12 November 1992 (1) on guidelines for cultural action, as well as recent conclusions on more specific aspects, such as the conclusions of 17 June 1994 (2) on drawing up a Community action plan in the field of cultural heritage.

2. Article 128 of the EC Treaty states that 'the Community 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'. In support of these principles Community action is aimed at encouraging cooperation between Member States and supporting and supplementing their action in defined areas; it should provide clearly recognizable European added value in relation to national action. The Article states that the Community and the Member States should foster cooperation with third countries, and the Council considers that priority should be given to those with which the Community has agreements specifying cultural cooperation. It further mentions promotion of cooperation with the competent international organizations in the sphere of culture, in particular the Council of Europe. The Commission is invited to report regularly to the Council concerning cultural cooperation by the Community with third countries and with international organizations.

3. In observance of Article 128 (4) which requires the Community to take cultural aspects into account in its action under other provisions of the Treaty, the review of such measures should take place at the earliest possible stage of their preparation. In this connection the Council welcomes the Commission's intention to submit within one year a report on the cultural dimension of the main Community actions concerned and to keep the Ministers of Culture informed in an appropriate manner. Ministers of Culture should regularly consider these issues, and procedures in this respect should be decided by the Council in connection with the Commission report.

4. The Council emphasizes that action in the cultural field should be based particularly on the following criteria: transparency and ongoing consultation; facilitating access to the programmes; provision for thorough evaluation; overall balance between programmes set up in accordance with established priorities and funds available; modalities of cooperation with third countries.

5. Without prejudice to possible future comments, the Council would like to stress the following specific points:

(a) Subsidiarity and complementarity should be pursued in the cultural field. These principles involve close cooperation between the Commission and the Member States, which should bring about greater quality and efficiency both in the preparation and in the implementation of cultural action.

(b) Without prejudice to the Annex of the communication, particular attention should be given to the audiovisual sector, especially with respect to the cultural dimension of the audiovisual media.

(c) Proposals for new actions should entail re-examination of existing priorities and activities, so that such new proposals can be given due weight.

(d) Support to networks should concentrate on concrete artistic and cultural projects to be carried out by them, with a view to improving innovation and dialogue.

(e) The Council assumes that the Commission will retain its current practice in regard to public aid to promote culture and heritage conservation Article 92 (3) (d).

6. The Council again emphasizes that cultural measures at European level must be organized with a view to maximum efficiency in the context of the financial perspectives.

7. Pending the consideration of the Commission proposals for Community action from 1996, and taking into account the need to avoid any interruption in Community cultural action which has already begun, the Council invites the Commission to continue its activities in 1995 on an interim basis, without prejudicing decisions regarding the content of future actions.

(1) OJ No C 336, 19. 12. 1992.

(2) OJ No C 235, 23. 8. 1994.