Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (2008)
Date: 2006-04-27
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: European cultural event, European identity, acculturation, citizens' Europe, cultural pluralism, cultural policy, cultural relations, public awareness campaign

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Official Journal of the European Union

29.8.2006

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Proposal for a Decision of the European
Parliament and of the Council concerning the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (2008)

(2006/C 206/08)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

Having regard to the European Commission's proposal for a European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (2008)
(COM(2005) 467 final);

Having regard to the European Commission's decision of 16 November 2005 to consult it in accordance
with Article 128 of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

Having regard to the decision of its Bureau of 12 April 2005 to instruct its Commission for Culture and
Education to draw up an opinion on this subject;

Having regard to Article 151 of the EC Treaty which states that ‘The Community shall take cultural
aspects into account in its action under other provisions of this Treaty, in particular in order to respect
and to promote the diversity of cultures’;

Having regard to Article 22 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the Union which states that ‘The
Union shall respect cultural, religious and linguistic diversity’;

Having regard to the Unesco Convention of 20 October 2005 on the Protection and Promotion of the
Diversity of Cultural Expressions;

Having regard to the Opinion of the Commission for Culture, Education and Research, adopted on
1 March 2006 (CdR 44/2006 rev. 1) (rapporteur: Mr András Mátis, Mayor of Szirák (HU/UEN-EA));

adopted the following opinion at its 64th plenary session, held on 26 and 27 April 2006 (meeting
of 27 April):

1. Introduction

The Committee of the Regions

strength lies

stresses that Europe's

1.1
in its diversity.
Respect for cultural linguistic, ethnic and religious diversity is
one of the basic principles underlying the process of European
levelling out differences or
integration, which is not about
fostering greater cooperation
creating uniform identities but
and understanding among the peoples of Europe;

1.2
notes the scale of migration in the European Union
today. Public administrations must provide immigrants with all
available means to become a source of intercultural exchange
and to integrate fully into our societies;

recognises that the combined effect of the successive
1.3
the increased mobility resulting
enlargements of
from the single market, old and new migratory flows, more

the Union,

extensive exchanges with the rest of the world through trade,
education,
is increasing
interactions between citizens in Europe;

leisure and globalisation in general,

the Year, which is as follows:

1.4 welcomes the European Commission's initiative on the
Year of Intercultural Dialogue and agrees with the key objective
of
to raise the awareness of
European citizens and all persons living in the European Union
of common cultural values in Europe and of the importance of
developing active European citizenship which is open to the
world, respectful of all manners of diversity and based on
common values in the European Union. A European Year
devoted to intercultural dialogue constitutes a unique aware-
ness‑raising tool for involving citizens, insofar as intercultural
refers to a dialogue which embraces all elements and groups
within society;

1.5
endorses the idea of closely involving the candidate
countries with the project among other initiatives to promote
intercultural dialogue, and supports the focus on ensuring that
the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue and the initiatives
to promote intercultural dialogue implemented in cooperation
with the EFTA countries, Western Balkan countries and the
partner countries involved in the European Neighbourhood
Policy complement each other;

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1.6

stresses that local and regional authorities:

— have important competences in promoting cultural activ-
ities and intercultural dialogue and they bear a major
responsibility for shaping and supporting our rich variety
of cultures and for integrating into society the different
communities that exist within it;

— have a key role in disseminating and applying best practice
in particular
and exchange of experiences in this field,
through their coordination of multi-dimensional
local and
regional networks in the cultural sector, involving all rele-
vant actors.

that

points out

intercultural dialogue can assist

in
2.6
alleviating the social exclusion,
isolation and marginalisation
of disadvantaged social groups, in particular immigrants. Cul-
ture and participation in cultural activities can provide them
with new possibilities for strengthening their identity, their self-
esteem and achieving a new status in society;

calls for continuous support

to facilitate intercultural
2.7
dialogue and relevant activities at local government level
in
order to support various existing initiatives and to strengthen
cultural exchange between citizens through multiple measures
involving culture, sports, youth, etc.;

2. Importance of intercultural dialogue

2.8
calls for increased emphasis on the mainstreaming of
culture in all policy areas, particularly in education and in
social and employment policy and sport.

The Committee of the Regions

3. The role of local and regional authorities in supporting

intercultural dialogue

reiterates that the basic principle underlying the pro-
2.1
cess of European integration is respect for and the promotion
of cultural diversity. Cultural diversity is a source of richness
that needs to be preserved, whilst
its virtues need to be
extolled as one of the main characteristics of Europe's identity.
in this respect, a key instrument in
Intercultural dialogue is,
promoting understanding of cultural diversity;

It can also guard against

stresses that intercultural dialogue can promote greater
2.2
in particular in relation to cultural traditions,
understanding,
religious practice and history.
the
risks of both cultural indifference and levelling down as well as
the growth of racist and xenophobic attitudes, which encou-
rage anti-social behaviour. The CoR reiterates that intercultural
cooperation needs to be stepped up so as to ensure that
cultural differences are an instrument
for strengthening and
uniting people in a multilingual, multicultural Europe;

The Committee of the Regions

3.1
calls for the promotion of the lesser-used languages and
regional languages in Europe including the languages of some
of the smaller Member States;

stresses that

local and regional authorities,

3.2
through
their proximity to citizens, are strategically well placed to
respond to the specific needs and demands of the different
cultural groups within the EU and to effectively mobilise local
and regional communities in promoting greater intercultural
dialogue;

emphasises that

2.3
extremist tendencies in certain social groups;

intercultural dialogue helps to curb

emphasises that

2.4
effective integration of immigrants;

it would particularly support more

2.5
stresses that intercultural dialogue can help to instil the
basic values of private, social and civic life, such as solidarity,
tolerance, democracy and understanding for cultural diversity.
Intercultural dialogue can foster the ability to communicate
between different cultural groups and to take part
in civic
society. Such dialogue is vital since racism, xenophobia and
friction are on the increase. The right to be different does not
justify different rights before the law;

3.3
calls for local and regional authorities to be to the fore
in the implementation of the Year, in particular to carry out
information campaigns at local and regional level. Because of
their closeness to and representation of
local communities,
they are in a unique position to ensure the widest access
‘disadvantaged’
possible
groups and thereby ensuring maximum benefit
from the
opportunities available;

reaching in particular

to actions,

in view of

stresses that,

3.4
the greater complexity in-
volved, programmes and legislation to combat cultural and
social exclusion could be more of a priority at
local and
regional levels, rather than action at the level of international
diplomacy;

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underlines that in order to promote intercultural dialo-
3.5
gue effectively, there is a need for cooperation at regional and
local
involving the relevant actors, especially the social
partners, education and training establishments, NGOs, youth,
sports, cultural and religious organisations at grassroots level;

level

further
the values and the idea of European integration.
points out
to merely highlight a few
is insufficient
success stories; what is needed is a coherent blueprint for the
medium-term application of successful exchange models;

that

It

it

stresses the increasing importance of intercultural dia-

3.6
logue at international level;

calls on the European Commission to take the experi-
4.3
ence acquired through the Year into account
in long-term
action programmes which include intercultural dialogue, such
as Culture 2007;

3.7
would here highlight the importance of the UNESCO
Convention of 20 October 2005 on the Protection and Pro-
motion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, which for the
first
time achieved consensus on a series of guidelines and
concepts regarding cultural diversity, inter alia in the context of
trade policy resolutions, and created the basis for a new global
pillar of governance in the culture sector;

3.8
pays tribute to the activities of the Anna Lindh Euro-
Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures
and expresses the hope that local and regional authorities will
be included in the work of this foundation;

underlines the important contributions that existing
3.9
programmes for cooperation between regions and/or munici-
palities and for town twinning have provided in enriching
cultural cooperation between towns and cities;

3.10
underlines that local and regional authorities can help
to promote intercultural dialogue developed in coordination
with other policy sectors such as education, training, enterprise
and employment strategies;

stresses that,

3.11
in conjunction with all of these mea-
the European Union is
sures promoting cultural exchange,
founded on cultural elements that are common to all Eur-
opeans, which come from their own traditions and which,
form what could be called ‘European
when taken together,
culture’.

4. Specific proposals

The Committee of the Regions

4.1
calls for the events of the Year to be organised in such
a way that the initiatives trialled during the Year can be used
as a basis for an in-depth analysis to develop a communication
and exchange tool for local and regional authorities;

calls for

to intensify interaction and open
4.2
discussion between all citizens in the EU so as to promote

the Year

4.4
to this end, calls on the Member State to incorporate
cultural dialogue and programmes into the legislative work of
national and regional parliaments, particularly in relation to
State education, the propagation of culture and citizens' initia-
tives;

calls on the European Commission to spell out what is
4.5
actually involved in the actions at Community level (Actions
A and B), and to provide detailed information about
the
instruments which can be used;

notes that in the breakdown of resources contained in
4.6
the Annex to the draft proposal a large proportion of
the
proposed budget for the Year has been allocated to supporting
emblematic action on a Community scale (8 actions envisaged
– Action B). The CoR calls for more focus to be given to
level,
small-scale actions,
in particular at
which have lasting repercussions and multiplier effects
in
communities and which can provide an important added value
to EU cultural actions. Due to a lack of
funding, many
innovative small-scale actions cannot be implemented. We
would therefore recommend that the European Year emphasise
small-scale local initiatives, and request that the requisite sup-
port be provided;

local and regional

advocates supporting the work of the European Migra-
4.7
tion Network as an existing platform that allows a EU-wide
debate on migration issues and the marginalisation of groups
of migrants in order to combat cultural misunderstandings and
inform policymakers and the public accordingly;

calls for the positive appreciation of local community
4.8
social networks as visible mediators, motivators and catalysts
for dialogue between individual cultures;

4.9
stresses that involvement of local and regional autho-
rities in the implementation of the European Year seems the
most effective way of ensuring that it reaches European citi-
Incorporating the local and regional dimension into
zens.
a European Year is fundamental to its success;

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calls on the European Commission to involve local
4.10
and regional authorities in the implementation of the Year, in
particular to carry out
local and
regional level;

information campaigns at

4.11
requests that programmes pursuing a multidisciplinary
approach, combining various art forms as one - perhaps on
the basis of a unifying idea - be given special support;

4.12
calls on the European Commission to devise a short
message or central idea for the 2008 European Year conveying
the meaning of the slogan ‘Unity in Diversity’ to all European

It also requests special support for projects which
citizens.
focus on identifying shared European cultural traditions and/or
future-oriented strategies in this area;

requests that the measures for intercultural integration
4.13
implemented by the different Community institutions as part
of the Year of Intercultural Dialogue be evaluated, in order to
show how the cultural assistance they have provided has
benefited the social
immigrants, helping these
become an asset for Europe rather than a problem.

integration of

5. Recommendations of the Committee of the Regions

Recommendation 1

Article 5

Text proposed by the Commission

Article 5

CoR Amendment

Article 5

Cooperation by the Member States

Cooperation by the Member States

Each Member State shall appoint a national coordination
body, or an equivalent administrative body, responsible
for organising that State’s participation in the European
Year of Intercultural Dialogue. Each Member State shall
ensure that this body involves in an appropriate manner
the various parties in intercultural dialogue at national
level. This body shall ensure the coordination, at national
level, of actions relating to the European Year of Inter-
cultural Dialogue.

Brussels, 27 April 2006

Each Member State shall appoint a national coordination body,
or an equivalent administrative body, responsible for organising
that State’s participation in the European Year of Intercultural
this body
Dialogue. Each Member State shall
various parties
involves
in
in an appropriate manner
including local and
intercultural dialogue at national
regional authorities. This body shall ensure the coordination,
level, of actions relating to the European Year of
at national
Intercultural Dialogue.

ensure that
the

level,

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Michel DELEBARRE