“A Soul for Europe” and its Cultural Coalition for a Citizens’ Europe are delighted to announce that the Berlin Conference 2014 will take place on 3 March 2014. For the first time in its 10 year history, the Berlin Conference will be co-produced by the European Parliament as well as Allianz Kulturstiftung.

2014 will be the 100th anniversary of the European continent plunging into war and at this historic moment we must take stock of the challenges we have faced and the progress we have made in building a cultural Europe of citizens: the paradigm shift from a divergent Europe of ongoing clashes to a new Europe of cooperation and community.
 
This year is also the 10th anniversary of the “A Soul for Europe” initiative and the Berlin Conference. At this moment we will also look at the challenges and progress we have made in our efforts to ensure that Europe makes greater and better use of its cultural assets.
 
For the first time in the history of the European Union, the European Parliament’s political groups will nominate supranational top candidates for the post of European Commission President. To realize our goal of a cultural Europe of citizens and to create ties with the European Union at a time of important institutional changes in 2014, leading representatives of the European political parties will be brought together prior to the elections to discuss their visions for the future of Europe with artists and intellectuals.
 
We see this collaboration as the beginning of a new form of sustainable democratic cooperation between the European Parliament and Europe’s citizens that we have been striving for. Together with President Schulz and the European Parliament as well as Allianz Kulturstiftung, we invite citizens, artists, intellectuals, civil society leaders, and elected officials to come together in Berlin to participate in this ground-breaking process.
 
If you are interested in participating in this event, please send an email to Nele Kirchner: kirchner@asoulforeurope.eu.

The programme is available here.