5 years on: celebrating the UNESCO Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions
Brussels, Albert Hall, 8 December 2010
Ministers, Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is a great honour and pleasure for me to be here with you for this special day.
I am delighted we have this occasion to celebrate together the fifth anniversary of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
Today we are renewing our commitment to a common goal: that of promoting cultural diversity in all its forms and expressions.
Since 2005, 116 countries have ratified the Convention. That is an impressive number. It is true that in some parts of the world the pace of ratification has been slower. But this only encourages us to continue promoting the Convention's principles around the globe. The more countries we have on board, the more we can make use of all the potential that culture has to contribute to sustainable development, social cohesion, economic growth, peace-building and even conflict prevention.
I am therefore very pleased that so many countries have clearly expressed, at the highest level, their political commitment to the Convention's principles.
In September, Heads of State and government were very clear at the United Nations General Assembly Summit in New York. They recognised culture's important contribution to sustainable development and to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
Last month, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on Culture and Development. It acknowledged the important role of cultural diversity and the great potential of the cultural and creative sectors for social and economic development.
If I sum up the developments since 2005, there is now a broad consensus that culture, in its many diverse forms of expression, is central to our future development. We now need to step up our efforts to integrate and mainstream culture into our policies and strategies. We have a shared responsibility in this. It must be central to our political agenda. And we have the principles laid down in the 2005 UNESCO Convention to guide us in this endeavour.
That is what we do in the EU. I could say that we have deployed a multi-pronged strategy. We promote culture through our cooperation programmes with third countries, through our work with UNESCO, and in our trade relations.
At the end of 2007, the EU's Ministers of Culture adopted the first European Agenda for Culture to give concrete expression to the principles of the UNESCO Convention. Last month, we renewed the Agenda for the next four years. Thanks to the Agenda we have a stable and comprehensive policy framework for our cultural cooperation at European and international level.
The EU has extensive experience and is a leader in development cooperation with third countries. We help develop policies to preserve local culture and improve access to it. We promote stronger contacts between cultural actors to reinforce mutual understanding and respect.
Also, the EU and its Member States have numerous funding programmes for cultural cooperation. The European Development Fund is active in the ACP countries. The Development Cooperation Instrument operates in Latin America, Asia and South Africa. And the European Neighbourhood and Partnership instrument is for our cooperation with our southern and eastern partners.
But we are also working directly with UNESCO to implement the Convention. At the beginning of next year we will launch our first joint action. In close collaboration with beneficiary countries, we will seek to strengthen their system of governance for culture. In this way, we will promote policies that address the role of culture in social and economic development. We will do it, in particular, by supporting the cultural industries. The assistance will be based on the needs and priorities identified by the countries themselves.
Our policy dialogue with third countries is also essential in promoting ratification of the Convention. The inclusion of cultural provisions in international agreements is a major way of giving expression to its principles.
A new instrument, the "Protocol on Cultural Cooperation", was specifically developed to promote the Convention. The protocols come into play in the context of bilateral and regional trade negotiations with third countries. Their aim is to improve the conditions governing cultural exchanges while preserving cultural diversity. In all cases the UNESCO Convention is the over-arching conceptual framework for the protocols. Their entry into force is, in principle, submitted to the precondition that the third country partner ratifies the Convention.
We have concluded cultural cooperation protocols with the Cariforum countries, the Andean Community, Central America and South Korea. We negotiate protocols or other forms of bilateral agreements with emerging and developed countries on a case by case basis. In this way, we are able to adapt to a wide diversity of partners and their different levels of development.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am sure that the debates within the three thematic panels this afternoon will highlight the opportunities and challenges of reconciling the free flow of cultural exchanges and the preservation and nurturing of the diversity of cultural expressions. There is no single, perfect recipe. But we have to make sure that our policies and instruments are based on these core principles. So I look forward to a lively and rich exchange this afternoon.
Before closing, I wish to thank in advance the speakers of this afternoon's three thematic panels, and all of you here attending the event. I also extend my special thanks to my dear colleague, Fadila Lanaan, for her cooperation and presence today.
Allow me to borrow the words of Léopold Sédar Senghor, the first President of Senegal, who said that «La culture est au début et à la fin de tout développement». Let these words guide our discussions today and our efforts to promote the UNESCO Convention on the diversity of cultural expressions in the years to come.
Thank you for your attention.
