From the 1st of July, France will assume the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. In the Cultural and Audiovisual areas, how will France respond to the issues presented to the European Union members?

‘Prepare the cultural future of Europe and give it new momentum’: this is the aim of the cultural programme of the French Presidency of the European Union (PFUE). To carry out this programme, France has chosen to address the major cultural policy issues of European Union members.

- Organise consultations with our European partners to progress projects
Through the frame of the French Presidency, the Ministry of Culture and Communication will organise, between July 1 and December 31, sixteen conferences, forums, and meetings which will give member states opportunities to address different aspects of cultural and audiovisual Europe. ‘Very serious, forward-looking work’ notes Benoît Paumier, who is in charge of the preparation of the PFUE at the Ministry of Culture. ‘It is destined to progress the projects and European reflection on a whole series of subjects, such as the European heritage seal of approval, cultural industries, and artists’ mobility’.

- Pursue European cultural policy
At the Council of European cultural ministers on the 21st of May, Christine Albanel unveiled her ambition to ‘develop the cultural dimension of the European project’, during the coming semester at Brussels. She will orientate European efforts around four axes:
- Value and protect heritage common to our continent, in line with the creation by the European Union members of a  ‘seal of approval for European heritage’, grouping together particularly significant sites of European history;  and through the launch of the European Digital Library, which will make available more than two million works to Internet users;
- Support cultural creation in the digital era, through , on the one hand, the development of legally available, and easily downloadable, cultural and creative content, and, on the other hand, strengthening the battle against online pirating; assure cultural and linguistic diversity, notably in relation to support for multilingualism and by a symposium-report on the orienting principles regarding promoting intercultural dialogue in Europe and in relations between the European Union and the rest of the world
- Finally, to affirm the importance of architecture in sustainable development, that has appeared as a general French priority due to the issue of sustainable development.
The action of the Ministry of Culture and Communication during the French Presidency will also look at the audiovisual issues, notably in the area of the ‘telecommunications bundle’ review currently being considered at Brussels. These measures will be the object of debates at an informal council of Ministers which will take place  at Versailles on the 21st and 22nd of July and at the Council of Ministers ‘Education, Youth and Culture’ on the 20-21st November 2008.

- Put in place a cultural accompaniment 
Above is the political and institutional policy of the French presidency. And for the Cultural area – what is proposed? ‘With the European Cultural Season we wanted to prominently display the creative diversity of all European cultures as well as the identity force of what is a largely communal heritage’ explains Laurent Burin des Roziers, general commissioner of this Season, organised by Culturesfrance, which operates between the foreign affairs and culture ministries. Showing that diversity and identity in European culture are complementary  is the ambition of the general commissioner, who intends to ‘value meetings and exchanges’. ‘We are going to show 26 “tandem” projects resulting from the meeting between European artists’ he continues. Other exhibitions, under the label of ‘French Presidency, European Cultural Season, or European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, will take place across Europe. Finally, exceptional events will punctuate the French Presidency: ‘l’habillage’ by Yann Kersalé, from the Justus Lipsius, European Council Building at Brussels, and the exhibition conceived by Alain Fleischer for the closing of the PFUE: ‘la Nuit des images’ at the Grand Palais, in Paris.

http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/actualites/lettre/lettre160.pdf