Council Resolution

of 26 May 2003

on the horizontal aspects of culture: increasing synergies with other sectors and Community actions and exchanging good practices in relation to the social and economic dimensions of culture

(2003/C 136/01)

THE COUNCIL OF EUROPEAN UNION,

1. NOTING that, in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community, the Community shall take cultural aspects into account in its action under other provisions of this Treaty, in particular in order to respect and to promote the diversity of its cultures;

2. RECALLING the Resolution of the Council of 20 January 1997(1) on horizontal aspects of culture that includes several proposals on how to integrate cultural aspects into Community action;

3. RECALLING that the Resolution of the Council of 21 January 2002(2) on the role of culture in the development of the European Union stressed the need for synergies and complementarity between culture and the various Community actions;

4. RECALLING that the Council on 25 June 2002(3) adopted a Resolution on a work plan for European cooperation in the field of culture, and that this work plan includes as priorities horizontal aspects of cultural action (synergies with other Community areas and activities, economic and social dimensions of culture, mobility of persons and circulation of works, as well as development of the cultural and creative industries);

5. RECALLING that the follow-up concerning horizontal aspects of the work plan has already started and that on 19 December 2002 the Council adopted a Resolution implementing the work plan on European cooperation in the field of culture: European added value and mobility of persons and circulation of works in the cultural sector(4);

6. NOTING that culture interacts with other sectors both in the Member States and at the European level;

7. RE-EMPHASISES the importance of an effective synergy with all, both internal and external, other relevant areas and actions of the Community;

8. STRESSES that culture is a powerful vector of integration and of social inclusion;

9. RECOGNISES the work already initiated in the Member States and by the European Commission and STRESSES that an extra effort needs to be made to include culture in other sectors with the aim of placing culture at the heart of European integration;

10. INVITES the Commission, subject to timely information from all Member States, to submit by the end of 2003 a communication on the cultural dimension of EU Structural Funds for the period 1994 to 1999, while awaiting with interest the third Commission report on economic and social cohesion as well as the mid-term evaluation of the Structural Funds;

11. LOOKS FORWARD to a reflection, in 2004, to be led by the Commission on the basis of the abovementioned elements, which will consider how the contribution of culture to economic and social cohesion could be reinforced;

12. INVITES the Member States and the Commission within their respective competencies and responsibilities,

- to enhance synergies with Community areas and activities other than cultural ones from the earliest possible stage of preparation of any action or policy to its implementation, through an assessment of these actions at all appropriate levels,

- to examine the methods through which the exchange of good practices in relation to the economic and social dimension of culture could be developed, including the contribution of cultural activities to social inclusion and to the promotion of cultural diversity;

13. AGREES that the Council, by the end of 2004, should take stock of the follow-up to this Resolution.

(1) OJ C 36, 5.2.1997.

(2) OJ C 32, 5.2.2002.

(3) OJ C 162, 6.7.2002.

(4) OJ C 13, 18.1.2003.