The European Union finds its basis in a shared culture.

This is Europe’s abiding strength.

In public opinion, the European Union is often perceived as a political and economic entity, but the feeling that a common society has been created seems to be missing. We strongly believe that culture and the arts can fill this gap. They are the essence of every civilisational development. They are substantially important to our identity, give meaning to human existence and reflect our shared history.

Indeed, European culture and the arts refer to 3000 years of shared cultural heritage while bringing contemporary relevance to people’s lives today. Flourishing in dialogue with other cultures, they reflect our “living together”, interconnect people in society, transmit knowledge and values. At the same time, they safeguard tangible and intangible evidence of the manmade and natural world for current and future generations.

Culture and the arts are the essential drivers of creation and appropriation of meaning. In today’s digital world, the arts present the unforeseen and open new perspectives beyond customer-specific solutions. Through the diversity of intellectual and emotional experiences they can teach individuals about complexity. They contribute to the constructive experience of otherness. In this sense, they are an important response to the cultural, social, economic and religious tensions existing inside societies, within the EU and outside European borders.