Guiding principles

The realities of contemporary culture in a rapidly changing world, the ideals and values to which Europeans and the EU are committed, as well as the interests, both economic and political, that they need to pursue globally, make it imperative for all European actors to respect a set of guiding principles. The inquiry has suggested that such principles need to be identified at both

the value-based and the methodological levels. Some of these principles were in fact affirmed even earlier by European institutions and experts. Others are corollaries of the ideas and ideals of global cultural citizenship that inspire this report. These principles also resonate with the vision of the 2005 UNESCO Convention, whose Preamble recognises that ‘the diversity of cultural expressions, including traditional cultural expressions, is an important factor that allows individuals and peoples to express and to share with others their ideas and values.’ The Convention also states that ‘the cultural aspects of development are as important as its economic aspects, which individuals and peoples have the fundamental right to participate in and enjoy.’

For all these reasons our inquiry, while it fully endorses the values traditionally affirmed as part of the European Union’s acquis communautaire – human rights, democracy and the rule of law – has foregrounded a different set of principles. All of these hinge on the quality of our relationships with others, as outlined below.

4.1.1 Value-based principles

• Communication between people and peoples today must take place in conditions of respect and equality. The stances of reciprocity and mutuality, notably mutual learning, embody these fundamental values and should therefore underpin the entire approach of the EU and its Member States.

• It is vital to protect and promote the diversity of cultures and the foundations upon which they are constructed. Hence all international cultural relations should be pursued in the spirit of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.

• In so doing, however, we must eschew all notions of culture as fixed and unchanging or of distinct cultures as homogeneous and unchanging bounded entities, and combat the resulting stereotypes that still persist as a consequence of such notions, both in European countries about third countries and in third countries about Europe, European countries and European institutions. We should recognise cultural identities as constructions that are multiple and fragmented, rather than essences that are natural and pre-ordained.

• Europeans need to take the time to listen to others as much as they communicate freely with them. Sharing values implies open

expression, critical reflection and free debate. It requires free spaces of the mind – as well as physical spaces. Most Europeans today are critically aware of the legacies of their histories – of both the positive and the negative aspects – including the colonial past in certain cases. Hence it would be simplistic to simply try to export European values wholesale to other regions. We must be ready to learn from the variety of ways in which people elsewhere, notably artists and intellectuals, choose to appropriate and adapt values that originated in Europe, but have become a legacy for all.

• Europeans should also recognise that there are also powerful forces elsewhere that reject cherished European values such as gender equality, freedom of expression and human rights. While fully upholding these values, the ethics of pluralism require Europeans practicing cultural relations to recognize the plurality of systems of beliefs and conduct that exist across the world.

4.1.2 Methodological principles

The principles of method set out below emerged from the inquiry, which also confirmed the salience of a number of ideas that had been put forward earlier.55

Two sets of principles have been identified. The first concerns the stances and attitudes that should guide the practice of cultural relations between European actors and their counterparts in third countries. The second concerns the interplay among European entities and actors themselves.

4.1.2.1 Principles for Europe in the world

• It is essential to balance public responsibility and the autonomous practice o f cultural relations by professionals who are driven by intrinsically cultural imperatives rather than those of national representation. Some European Member States have achieved this balance internally through the application of the arm’s length principle. This principle needs also to be respected in the realm of international cultural relations.

55 Principles of good practice such as the following were distilled by Damien Helly in 2012 for More Europe: working together in partnerships around a single theme, idea or project; making sense locally and promoting local people, assets and potential; think beyond bor- ders and barriers; securing the autonomy of cultural professionals.

• Nevertheless, there can be no question of side-lining governments. In point of fact, in many third countries, governments and their agencies are as eager for and in need of better cultural relations with European actors as are civil society actors and non-governmental bodies. Hence the planning and implementation of cultural relations by governments and their institutions should involve all cultural stakeholders right from their inception and through to their conclusion.

• In the same spirit, third country partners should be involved from the outset in the conception and design of cultural projects and programmes: the joint creation of new projects is the bedrock of deep and lasting ties. EU strategies based on equal partnerships will prove indispensable in dispelling perceptions of neo-colonialist aims and attitudes, notably in ENP countries. • Successful and meaningful cultural relations unfold in the long

term. There are no ‘quick fixes’ in this domain. Europeans also need to apprehend the cultural policy landscape of each partner country as complex and constantly evolving.

• The long-term perspective also includes respect for the goal of attaining sustainability. Whether it applies to a developing country or to a resource-rich strategic partner, any European act of cultural partnership should be seen as but a single moment in a process that unfolds over time, particularly if it is part of a deliberate strategy.

• Cultural relations should not be limited to the mere presentation of European culture to others and vice versa, although this activity is of course important and may well remain a priority for governments. The point is, however, that because of the dense flows of ideas, creative forms, cultural products and people taking place today, there is much less need for the deliberate official presentation of ‘national’ cultures to others. Indeed, most third country stakeholders report that they are able independently to discover and understand the varieties of European culture (and vice-versa); they are more interested in interactions with European partners who can share their creative ideas, as well as European experiences of capacity- building and the governance of culture, notably in the management of cultural projects and institutions, the fostering of public-private sector partnerships, the encouragement of private sponsorship, the protection of intellectual property rights, the elaboration of an enabling fiscal

and regulatory environment or techniques of coproduction and cultural statistics. For this reason, the present recommendations do not deal with the classic devices of governmental cultural diplomacy such as sending artists or exhibitions abroad. These tend to be done fairly well already, even if their long-term impact is bound to be limited and resources are constrained.

• There is no single ‘model’, no ‘one size fits all’ solution for successful international cultural relations. Its practice will always be a matter of variable geometry. Any future EU strategy must be based on the informed choice and case-by-case consideration of appropriate partners in each local setting. As is the case within European Member States themselves, the landscape of cultural actors, officials, institutions and individuals within each country is diverse and varied. It often reveals the pursuit of divergent objectives and contrasting visions of culture. For example, the EU needs also to acknowledge the role of religious institutions in this field, yet always in the spirit of critical dialogue.

• Little benefit can be expected from the deployment of culture in external relations unless procedures concerning applications for EU funding are greatly simplified, made more accessible and founded on more transparent selection criteria. An equality of position for all stakeholders needs to be promoted, but without recourse to artificial bureaucratic procedures or quotas. 4.1.2.2 Principles regarding the interplay among different European policy actors

• Both the imperatives of diversity and European commonalities need to be combined in new ways. Clearly, the Member States are the key agents in this field and the European Commission’s role is to support and complement their activities. Achieving this aim is more complex than it may appear, however. It requires not just better communication, but also more effective coordination at the trans-national level. New layers of bureaucracy should be avoided at all costs. It is also indispensable, as mentioned earlier, that the autonomy of cultural professionals working bottom-up is fully respected. ‘Cultural civil society’ composed of NGOs and networks need to be involved at all stages, from planning to implementation. This is already the case at the national level in some countries, but rarely so at the Union level.

• Seriously pursuing the goal of richer external cultural relations means changing the ways in which different European actors work together. Innovative spaces and solutions are needed: such new alliances amongst cultural actors for better joint projects in third countries will require some high-incentive triggers to be found. These could include:

- The selection of key partner countries for specific actions and the most appropriate consortia of partners.

- The selection of leading themes of common interest, and European value-based inter-action in the global discourse; such priority choices would generate respective criteria for EU calls or tenders

- Calls for action in key sectors such the cultural and creative industries based on the complementary comparative advantages of collaborators, as well as the respect for diversity and European interests.

- Europe-wide calls for and the application of multiplier strategies using tools such as the new media in the interest of Europe and its diverse actors, including civil society actors.

• In this process, the EU must strive for coherence and synergies amongst its different tools and instruments and the entities and actors responsible for them. Transparent and participative decisions must be taken as regards the role of different institutional players within the EU framework.