Lesson 2. EU Cultural and Creativity policies

The EU’s cultural and creative policies are not only about protecting the past — they are instruments for shaping the future: fostering innovation, building social cohesion, developing human capital, and anchoring a shared European identity in living practice.

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1. Why the EU Engages in Culture

Cultural policy in the EU rests on a clear logic: culture and creative industries are not peripheral to European integration — they are central to it. The EU’s strategy covers five key aims:

• Supporting cultural and creative sectors (CCS) economically and structurally.
• Preserving and promoting cultural heritage — tangible and intangible.
• Fostering cross-border cultural cooperation.
• Strengthening European identity through shared cultural experiences.
• Using culture to drive social, digital, and green transformations.

Important: Under the EU Treaties, culture is a supporting competence — the EU acts to support, coordinate, and supplement Member States’ actions, not to replace them. This is where the principle of subsidiarity (Lesson 3) becomes central.

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2. The Main Funding Instrument: Creative Europe

Creative Europe is the EU’s flagship programme for the cultural and creative sectors. It supports:

• Audiovisual arts, music, publishing, and cultural heritage.
• Cross-border cooperation between cultural organisations across Europe.
• Mobility of artists, creators, and professionals.
• Innovation in cultural production and distribution.
• Digitisation and accessibility of cultural content.

The EU has also prepared a dedicated CulturEU funding guide — an interactive web tool that helps cultural organisations and practitioners find relevant EU funding opportunities for their projects.

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3. Flagship Initiatives

Initiative	Purpose	Impact on ICH
European Capitals of Culture	Annual designation highlighting a city’s cultural wealth	Direct economic impact; promotes local traditions nationally and internationally
European Heritage Days	Annual public access event across 50 countries	Raises awareness of heritage sites; often features ICH practitioners
European Heritage Label	Recognises sites symbolising European values and history	Anchors local heritage in a European narrative
EU Prize for Literature	Celebrates excellence in European fiction	Supports literary traditions, oral narrative roots
EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture	Celebrates architectural innovation	Connects traditional building knowledge to contemporary practice

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4. Young People and Culture

The EU places particular emphasis on young people’s access to culture, supporting their creative development and equipping them with relevant skills for the modern world. This includes:

• Erasmus+ exchanges with cultural components.
• Cultural education programmes integrated into broader EU education policy.
• Support for youth-led creative projects through Creative Europe.

The EU acknowledges the potential of culture for both social and economic change — and sees young people as the primary transmission belt for living heritage.

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5. Collaborative Implementation

Ultimately, the EU aims to foster collaboration between cultural actors, governments, businesses, and other organisations as a condition for effective policy implementation. No EU cultural policy succeeds without:

• National governments adapting EU frameworks to local contexts.
• Local communities being active participants, not passive recipients.
• Private sector partners adding resources without replacing public accountability.

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Activities

Policy mapping (individual, 20 min): Visit the Creative Europe website. Find one funded project related to intangible cultural heritage. Identify: the ICH element it concerns, the participating countries, the EU objective it serves, and one concrete outcome.

European Capitals of Culture analysis (pairs, 20 min): Choose one recent European Capital of Culture. Research: what ICH elements were featured, how they were presented to international audiences, and whether the event contributed to their safeguarding or risked their commodification.

CulturEU exploration (group, 20 min): Use the CulturEU funding guide to identify which EU funding instrument would be most appropriate for a hypothetical ICH project from your country. Justify your choice.

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Key Questions

• What are the risks of EU-level cultural policy for local community ownership of heritage?
• What is Creative Europe and how does it relate to ICH safeguarding?
• Why does the EU focus on young people’s access to culture as part of its heritage policy?
• How do the European Capitals of Culture and Heritage Days complement each other in promoting ICH?

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