Joint Communication to the European Parliament and the Council

This Joint Communication proposed three pillars to advance work towards an EU Strategy for international cultural relations. First, the proposed guiding principles for EU action aim to ensure that EU action in this area promotes human rights, diversity, inter-cultural dialogue while respecting subsidiarity and complementarity and retaining policy coherence by promoting culture within existing partnership frameworks. The second pillar proposed three main strands to provide a focus for advancing cultural cooperation with partner countries, including: i) supporting culture as an engine for sustainable social and economic development; ii) promoting culture and intercultural dialogue for peaceful inter-community relations; iii) reinforcing cooperation on cultural heritage. The third pillar proposes a strategic EU approach to cultural diplomacy: including enhanced European cooperation (notably between EU Member States and EU Delegations) and inter-cultural exchanges to promote the diverse cultures of the EU.