C 160/20
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
13.4.2022
Council conclusions on reinforcing intercultural exchanges through the mobility of artists and cultural and creative professionals, and through multilingualism in the digital era (2022/C 160/07)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
CONSIDERING THAT:
1.
Cultural and linguistic diversity is intrinsic to the European Union and its fundamental values.
It contributes to the blossoming of creativity, creative freedom, cultural exchanges and to the variety and quality of the cultural and artistic offer for all Europeans.
It promotes mutual understanding and respect for cultures and languages, and it is a shared heritage, a wealth, a strength, and a distinctive characteristic of relations within Europe and with the rest of the world;
2.
It is essential to encourage mobility and exchanges between European artists, cultural organisations and cultural and creative professionals, both at national and European level, as enshrined in the Creative Europe programme, in particular in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
It is also essential to support access to culture and the circulation of cultural works within Europe, thereby enriching our lives individually and collectively;
3.
The mobility of artists and cultural and creative professionals should be facilitated not only amongst European cultural organisations, but also amongst individual artists and professionals, as experienced through the i-Portunus pilot projects since 2018.
Such mobility enables them to co-work and co-create, network, acquire new competences, skills and techniques, seek inspiration, reach new audiences and new markets, and access new career opportunities.
4.
The mobility of artists and cultural and creative professionals can usefully draw on opportunities such as residency schemes and on the European networks of institutions or festivals.
It can be facilitated notably through comprehensive, accurate and multilingual information about existing mobility schemes, available assistance, and programmes that take into account the overall mobility context;
5.
European mobility schemes contribute to establishing and fostering partnerships that are a prerequisite when applying for Creative Europe cooperation projects funding;
6.
An ambitious policy of cultural and linguistic diversity should fully integrate sustainability issues and draw on technological innovation, including in the digital field;
7.
Multilingualism (1) fosters cultural diversity and creativity, including in the field of audiovisual, media and digital content, and allows broader access to different cultural approaches, works, knowledge and ideas.
Language competence (plurilingualism (2)) constitutes an important asset in a globalised context and contributes to professional mobility and exchanges in the cultural and creative sectors;
8.
Professional translators, interpreters and language educators play a significant role in the circulation of artworks, knowledge and ideas, particularly for less widespread European languages, thus supporting European cultural diversity on a daily basis;
9.
Language and semantic web technologies can support multilingualism and cross-language communication; help language learning, teaching and awareness; and offer useful tools for professional translators, bearing in mind that such tools cannot fully substitute human translation and therefore their output needs always to be carefully monitored and adapted for accuracy;
(1) Defined as the presence or coexistence of several languages within a given society or territory, or on a given medium.
(2) Defined as the ability of an individual to use several languages.