PRESS RELEASE 9 MAY 2012
Civil society voices reached the EU Council of Culture Ministers
Act for culture in Europe! Campaign message in support of future EU Culture Programme ‘Creative Europe’ communicated on the occasion of Culture Ministers meeting in Brussels 10 May 2012
On the occasion of the EU Council of Culture Ministers meeting in Brussels the 10-11 of May 2012, Culture Action Europe’s Secretary General Mr. Luca Bergamo met, on the 9th of May, with a high representative of the Danish Minister of Culture Mr. Uffe Elbæk to convey the message of the Europe-wide campaign ‘we are more – act for culture in Europe’ to the Presidency of the EU Council of Culture Ministers.
“We turn to you as active and concerned citizens because we believe, like you, that cultural exchange brings hope and engagement together with prosperity and sustainable growth. It is not an easy time in our Europe today. We ask you to stand strong with the Creative Europe proposal and support the budget increase as an investment in our future.” was the message communicated by Culture Action Europe and the campaign’s strategic partner the European Cultural Foundation to Mr. Jesper Hermansen, the Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Danish Ministry of Culture.
The campaign message is supported by tens of thousands of people who have signed the manifesto as well as by the extended network of organisations associated to Culture Action Europe – currently over 100 members giving voice to more than 80.000 cultural organisations.
The message and all signatures of the campaign were handed over to Mr. Hermansen in the form of a poster designed for the occasion by a team of talented emerging graphic designers.
During the meeting, the importance of reaching an early preliminary agreement on Creative Europe was acknowledged as a sign of a shared intention to better recognize the role of culture and media as important factors for Europe to recover from the multiple dimensions of its crisis. Culture Action Europe also underlined the necessity of establishing the new specific financial facility for the sector.
In addition, Culture Action Europe and the European Cultural Foundation recall the importance of continued civil society engagement at grass roots-level. In order to help campaign supporters to act and convince at national level, advocacy toolkits with arguments in support of a bold and daring Culture Programme and explicit support to culture in the future structural funds have been published on the campaign website.
Press contact:
Campaign Co-ordinator Emma Ernsth
we are more – act for culture in Europe is a Europe-wide campaign for the arts and culture. It was launched in October 2010 and will run until 2013, when the EU decides about its next multiannual budget for the years 2014-2020.The campaign promotes culture, heritage and the arts, together with education, social cohesion and environmental sustainability, as key areas in which the EU has to make more bold investments if it wants to reach its growth objectives and Europe to remain a thriving democracy in the future. The force behind the campaign is Culture Action Europe, a coalition of more than 100 organisations giving voice to over 80.000 organisations, in strategic partnership with the European Cultural Foundation.
Special thanks go to Chris Torch for the prose on the poster and to the team at FF3300 for the graphic design.
I SUPPORT