Informal meeting of senior officials of Ministries of Culture and senior officials responsible for culture in Ministries of Foreign Affairs | IFACCA - International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies

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Informal meeting of senior officials of Ministries of Culture and senior officials responsible for culture in Ministries of Foreign Affairs

16 October 2013, Lithuania

The Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union is preparing an informal meeting of senior officials of Ministries of Culture and senior officials responsible for culture in Ministries of Foreign Affairs of EU Member States. Participation is expected from all EU Member States, representatives from the European Commission, the European Parliament, the European External Action Service and other relevant institutions.

The meeting will focus on the idea of the EU neighbourhood policy. It will explore how common history and shared culture can become an asset for neighbourhood policies, preserving the idea of identity and at the same time promoting trust, engaging in cultural polyvocality and intercultural dialogue. It will facilitate discussion on how culture can contribute to political reforms, democratization and the on-going dialogue between civil society and policy makers in the neighbourhood countries.

A presentation of the preliminary findings of the Preparatory Action “Culture in External Relations” (contracting authority – DG for Education and Culture), highlighting the added value of EU cultural cooperation in external relations, mapping existing resources, approaches and strategies in the Member States and in a number of EU partners, will also be one of the topics of this meeting.

Questions will be addressed on what is the added value to act as Europeans, and as EU, in the field of international cultural relations? How do we want to be perceived by our neighbours and do we act accordingly? How can the EU support culture while contributing to development?

Topics of the meeting

The Difficult Art of Dialogue: What Can Culture Do that Politics Cannot?
Crossroads and Borders: Neighbourhood Policies and Cultural Polyvocality in Europe, Past and Present
EU Neighbourhood Policy and its Dilemmas: Can the Public Domain and Culture Lead to Political Reforms and Democratization?
Enhancing the Role of Culture in EU External Relations: Preliminary Findings and Orientations from the EU Preparatory Action in this Field

Click here to see the programme.