Multimedia

External event

Meeting

Maximizing the Impact of Cultural Diplomacy in EU Foreign Policy

How can the European Union and its Member States maximize the impact of culture in foreign policy? Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, addresses this question today at a meeting involving policy makers, cultural organisations, artists and academics from 54 European and non-European countries (list below). They will discuss proposed recommendations by experts which could form the basis of a new EU strategy on the role of culture in the EU’s external relations. The proposals follow a pilot initiative, launched by the European Parliament and led by the European Commission in cooperation with experts from the Goethe Institute and other cultural organisations. Pierre Vimont, Executive Secretary General of the European External Action Service, and Morten Løkkegaard, Vice-President of the European Parliament’s Culture and Education Committee, will also address today’s discussion, which will feed into final recommendations, due to be published in the next few weeks.

ECDPM’s Damien Helly is one of the 5 experts steering this preparatory action, in charge of 13 country reports (North Africa, Middle East and Eastern Europe) and of the mapping of France’s external cultural action.