Council Resolution of 19 December 2002 implementing the work plan on European cooperation in the field of culture: European added value and mobility of persons and circulation of works in the cultural sector
Date: 2002-12-19
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: European cooperation, European identity, cultural cooperation, cultural policy, cultural transmission

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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COUNCIL RESOLUTION

of 19 December 2002

implementing the work plan on European cooperation in the field of culture: European added
value and mobility of persons and circulation of works in the cultural sector

(2003/C 13/03)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

8. AGREES that European added value is a dynamic concept
and should therefore be implemented in a flexible way;

1. RECALLING that the Council on 25 June 2002 adopted a
Resolution on a work plan for European cooperation in
the field of culture, and that this work plan includes as
priorities
analysing and developing
methods to identify and evaluate the added value of
European actions in the field of culture, as well as the
development and promotion of mobility of persons and
circulation of works in the cultural sector;

the question of

2. FINDING that European added value is a basic and decisive
concept in European cultural cooperation, as well as an
overall condition for Community cultural action and that it
is therefore also an important premise for the continuation
of the work plan in the field of culture;

3. FINDING that further promotion of mobility of persons and
circulation of works in the cultural sector is an issue of
great importance to the future of cultural cooperation, as
well as being a crucial measure in achieving European
added value and that it thereby furthers the development
of a cultural area common to the peoples in Europe;

European Union

4. TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the fact that the enlargement of
and
the
concept of
importance of dealing with both the
European added value and the question of mobility of
persons and circulation of works.

relevance

increases

the

9. AGREES consequently that the European added value of
cultural actions can be identified and evaluated cumu-
latively through the following points:

(i) Actions that encourage cooperation between Member

States.

(ii) Actions that have a clear multilateral character.

(iii) Actions with objectives and effects that are better
achieved at Community level than at Member State
level.

(iv) Actions that address,

reach and benefit primarily
citizens in Europe, and furthermore enhance mutual
knowledge of cultures.

(v) Actions that aim at being sustainable and at consti-
tuting a long-term contribution to the development of
cooperation, integration, and cultures in Europe.

(vi) Actions that aim at broad visibility and accessibility;

I

European added value

10.

competences

INVITES the Member States and the Commission within
into
their
account the content of point 9 in order to achieve and
ensure European added value in Community cultural
action;

and responsibilities,

to take

5. FINDING that

in accordance with the principle of

the
Treaty establishing the European Community concerning
subsidiarity,
the European added value of Community
cultural actions is to be found in the actions that cannot
be sufficiently undertaken at Member State level and
effects, are better
therefore, by reason of
undertaken by the Community;

scale or

11. AGREES that the Council, until the end of 2004, should
take stock of the follow up to points 9 and 10 and INVITES
the Commission,
to
in line with its
participate in this process.

competences,

6. STRESSES that highlighting the concept of European added
value has a significant impact on future European cultural
cooperation by making cultural actions more consistent,
structured, and visible;

7. AGREES that

the European added value of Community
cultural action is generally understood as the synergy
effects which emerge from European cooperation and
which constitute a distinctive European dimension in
addition to Member State level actions and policies in
the field of culture;

II

Mobility of persons and circulation of works in the
cultural sector

12. RECALLING that the Council and the European Parliament
on several occasions have stressed the importance of
measures to promote mobility within the cultural sector
— most
recently in the Council Resolution of 17
December 1999 on free movement and the European
Parliament Resolution of 5 September 2001 on cultural
cooperation in the European Union;

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13. NOTING, inter alia, the report on ‘The exploitation and the
development of job potential in the cultural sector in the
age of digitalisation’ and the study on ‘Mobility and free
movement of people and products in the cultural sector’,
both published by the Commission, in June 2001 and June
2002 respectively, as well as the expert seminar on
mobility in Århus in September 2002;

14. STRESSES that promotion of mobility of persons and circu-
lation of works in the cultural sector are decisive factors in
the dissemination of knowledge, experience, mutual inspi-
ration, and cooperation. The issue of mobility and circu-
lation will thus be an important tool to communicate the
diversity of cultures in Europe and strengthen the cultural
cooperation;

15. STRESSES that cultural

industries in recent years have
experienced major growth with increasing relevance to
European economy and employment;

16. STRESSES that the cultural sector in Europe is characterised
by a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises
forms of employment and self-
as well as various
employment, and therefore the sector has a special need
for networking,
and dissemination of
knowledge and information;

coordination,

17. TAKING INTO ACCOUNT that some obstacles to mobility as
well as ways to increase mobility apply specifically to the

cultural sector, while most issues are to be dealt with in a
broader and horizontal context, as mentioned for instance
in the Conclusions of the European Council in Barcelona
15-16 March 2002;

18. UNDERLINES that — in accordance with the Treaty estab-
lishing the European Community — the Community is to
take cultural aspects into account in its action and should
the necessary
therefore contribute to the creation of
environment for increased mobility, NOTES the relevant
activities already underway in a number of
forums at
Community level, and STRESSES the need for complemen-
tarity between them;

19. AGREES that the issues listed in the Annex form a basis for
further initiatives and actions, and that the Council should
regularly take stock of the work done until the end of
2004,
including horizontal consideration of the relevant
work in other policy areas, and INVITES the Commission,
in line with its competences, to participate in this process;

20.

INVITES THE MEMBER STATES AND THE COMMISSION,
according to their respective competences, after due exam-
ination, to take concrete measures on Community and/or
in order to ease or promote the
Member State level
mobility of persons and circulation of works in the
cultural sector.

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Possible measures in order to increase the mobility of persons and circulation of works in the cultural sector

ANNEX

In conformity with the principle of subsidiarity and while fully respecting responsibilities within the framework of
national legislation, measures should be considered, at Community and Member State level, using as far as possible
existing structures and programmes in order to promote mobility and, where appropriate, remove obstacles to mobility.

Measures to promote mobility

1. Develop national information services (‘one-stop shops’), in the shape of websites and/or information offices, which
coordinate and disseminate practical information (in several languages) on contacts, employment opportunities and
conditions, and if appropriate legislation in the European countries;

2. Link-together websites containing information on practical and administrative aspects of mobility, for example
within the European cultural portal or the one-stop mobility site currently being developed by the Commission;

3. Improve possibilities for networking among individual artists and cultural operators;

4. Examine ways to disseminate information on and to improve the facilities, such as accommodation and work shops,

for visiting artists and cultural operators from Member States;

5. Investigate ways and means to further the general public's knowledge, particularly that of children and young

people, of the richness and diversity of the cultures and arts in Europe;

6. Encourage art students and teachers and the like in the cultural field to participate in Community exchange

programmes;

7. Facilitate acquisition of mobility skills needed by artists and cultural operators, including linguistic and entrepre-

neurial skills;

8. Facilitate interdisciplinary and cross-border cooperation between schools and other training institutions in the
cultural field, including investigation of ways to improve transparency and recognition of competences and qualifi-
cations;

9. Facilitate collection of statistical data on mobility in the cultural field, while taking into account legal and adminis-

trative constraints;

10. Promote use of existing support programmes, as well as examine the possibilities of developing national and/or

European support mechanisms in order to promote mobility.

Measures to remove possible legal and administrative obstacles to mobility

1. Ensure that citizens are aware of their entitlements under Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 and under existing reciprocal

arrangements concerning social security cover, while they are temporarily resident in another Member State;

2. For Member States, after due examination, to take the measures they consider appropriate,

in accordance with
Community law and the framework of their national
law, so that persons in the cultural sector travelling to
another Member State for professional purposes, are not subject, because of their mobility to discrimination with
respect to relevant social protection, including the administrative formalities for this protection, such as in the area of
health care and social welfare policies;

3. For Member States to enter into negotiations with each other, so far as it is necessary, with a view to securing, for
the benefit of their nationals, the abolition of possible existing double taxation within the Community, following the
provisions of the Treaty.