European Cultural Heritage - debate with national parliaments
Members will discuss cultural heritage and identity in the context of the European Year of cultural heritage, during an inter-parliamentary meeting on Monday.
On 19-20 November, Members of the Culture and Education Committee will meet Members of national parliaments as well as representatives of the Council of Europe and UNESCO and other stakeholders to discuss current and future legislative aspects of our common heritage, its benefits and challenges, as well as actions to protect and promote European cultural heritage.
Commissioner Tibor Navracsics and Elisabeth Kornfeind, Austrian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium, for the Austrian Presidency of the Council, will also take part in the event.
On Monday, participants will take part in three different working sessions on Culture and identity; Preservation, Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage; and Cultural Heritage and Education. They will then discuss in a plenary session on Tuesday common challenges, good practices, opportunities and future actions in this field, in order to ensure the long-term legacy of the European Year of Cultural Heritage (EYCH).
Prior to the debates, Petra Kammerevert (S&D, DE), Chair of Culture and Education Committee, said:
"Culture is the most effective way to reach a large number of EU citizens and obtain answers on the question of the future of Europe, whilst responding to a lack of identity within the European Union. In our conference today, we would like to discuss with our colleagues from national parliaments how we can make use of the positive drive from the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 for future policies. Raising awareness of the value and benefits of safeguarding cultural heritage must have a lasting influence on European and national cultural policies. A particular concern for me is the connection between cultural education and cultural heritage. It is imperative that there are greater efforts at international and national level to promote cultural education. If future generations fail to properly acknowledge in time the cultural value of any goods or services, they won't be able to preserve and to protect them for further generations."
Background
2018 was declared the European Year of Cultural Heritage (EYCH) and all EU member states and institutions have been organising events, conferences and meetings, and have been allocating funds to preserve and promote all forms of cultural heritage.