In reply to a question from Euro-deputy Kader Arif, relaying the concerns of the cultural sector regarding the integration of cultural and audiovisual services in the EU / Canada trade agreement, Commissioner Karel de Gucht, in charge of Trade, disclaims there is any risk for the diversity of cultural expressions.

According to him “ these concerns are based on inaccurate, and therefore misleading, assumptions”.

He stresses the European Commission’s commitment for “the implementation of its principles [of the UNESCO’s  2005 Convention]  and provisions ,with the objective of fostering the diversity of cultural expression both within the EU and abroad”.

He makes it clear that “in the context of the on-going negotiation of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)

- the Commission’s sole question to Canada relating to cultural industries thus far has been to clarify the scope of their broad cultural reservation,  so that the Commission has a clear understanding as to which services would be covered.”

- “subsidies are explicitly excluded from the scope of the Commission’s commitments relating to services and investment”.

- “the EU has not requested Canada to make a commitment on publishing services.” services”.

As to the question of cultural cooperation protocols annexed to trade agreements, the Commissioner pointed out that “this document will be presented and discussed with the European Parliament in the very near future” and that “it will be discussed with civil society”.

Read the question and answer on the site of the European Parliament

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+WQ+P-2011-002143+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=EN

the letter sent to M. Barroso

the answer received from M. Barroso’s cabinet

The inititial phase of the project funded by the European Union and aimed at reinforcing the governance system for culture and cultural policies in developing countries ended with the setting up of a pool of 30 experts.  These experts have been selected for the variety of their expertise, experience and knowledge of the cultural sector in these countries.

 UNESCO is now launching the second phase of the project i.e. a call for missions of technical assistance in developing countries.

 The list of beneficiary countries is available on the internet site of UNESCO and application deadlines are either April 30^th, 2011 (24:00 Paris time) or June 30^th, 2011 (24:00 Paris time)

Consult the  UNESCO program

Sweden has joined the European coalitions for cultural diversity movement which now counts 13 countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Slovaquia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom)

« We are very pleased to see our Swedish friends join our movement”, said Beat Santschi, the President of the Swiss coalition and vice-president for Europe of the International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural diversity (IFCCD). “The voice of the European coalitions is already quite strong and well respected at the national and European levels but the addition of the first Scandinavian country makes it even stronger. »

The Swedish Joint Committee for Artistic and Literary Professionals (Konstnärliga och Litterära Yrkesutövares Samarbetsnämnd or KLYS) is a federation founded in 1959 to represent national Swedish organizations in the cultural area. It thrives to find a common platform for the contributions of its 16 members in the area of cultural policy and other legislative development of concern to artists and creators.