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At the EU Parliament, UNESCO welcomes the key role of culture in the EU鈥檚 External Relations at the European Parliament
The European Parliament held a public hearing in a Joint Foreign Affairs and Culture & Education Committees meeting on 12 October 2021, focussing on the role of culture in the EU鈥檚 External Relations.
MEPs as well as invited experts, including the Assistant Director-General from UNESCO, Ernesto Ottone and the Director of Strategic Communication and Foresight from the European External Action Service, Oliver Rentschler, exchanged views on ways to further harness the power of culture to foster sustainable economic and social development, to promote peace and security, and to strengthen cooperation on protecting cultural heritage.
UNESCO鈥檚 Assistant Director-General commended the European Parliament for this initative to take stock of achievements in implementing the (2017) and the recent putting forward an EU approach to Cultural Heritage in Conflict and Crisis. He welcomed the engagement of the EU in support of the diversity of cultural expressions and the promotion of multilateralism through culture, as a Party to the UNESCO 2005 Convention. He stressed that the Inter-Agency Platform on Culture and Sustainable Development, launched by UNESCO and which brings together UN organizations and other regional and sub-regional intergovernmental organizations, such as the EU, is a tool to further enhance cooperation. He also recalled the policy mechanisms put in place by the EU, such as the Open Method of Coordination on the Cultural Dimension of Sustainable Development, as a good example of 鈥渕ultilateralism in action鈥. All of these paves the way to Mondiacult : the World Conference on Cultural Policies, which will take place in Mexico in 2022.
At the end of his intervention, Ernesto Ottone presented a few examples of the ongoing EU UNESCO partnership, such as the piloting of the Culture , supported by the EU and Sweden, which aim to measure the transversal contribution of culture in advancing the SDGs. He also expressed gratitude for the joint action with the EU in the field, notably in Iraq, Mali and Yemen to protect cultural heritage at risk , while providing skills and jobs in the cultural sector to young people, acknowledging the critical role of culture in preventing and combating violent extremism.
During his intervention, Oliver Rentschler emphasised the EU鈥檚 close partnership with UNESCO, stating that this cooperation is about networking, joining forces through very concrete actions such as the flagship initiative 鈥溾, where together with the EU, UNESCO is putting cultural heritage rehabilitation efforts at the heart of recovery and reconstruction.
The recent were again mentioned as a key milestone for the promotion of cultural heritage as a resource for peace. Here, EEAS emphasised the need to join forces and pool resources to protect cultural heritage during conflicts.
The presentations were followed by a fruitful debate amongst MEPs chaired by MEP 沤eljana Zovko, Vice chair of the Committee of Foreign Affairs.
In line with this discussion, the leaders of the G20 met in Rome and adopted on October 31st, where the role of culture was highlighted as a driver for sustainable development, as a force for the regeneration of economies as well as societies. The G20 stressed the key role UNESCO plays in the international efforts to safeguard and promote culture, and the need to support cultural workers by facilitating access to employment, social protection, digitalization and business support measures. It put an accent on the importance of addressing threats to irreplaceable cultural resources, in particular the importance of the fight against illicit traffic of heritage and the need to protect artefacts and sites that are endangered by conflicts or disasters.
