“A Soul for Europe” Conference
Berlin, 17 November 2006

Sehr geehrter Herr Bundespräsident,
Sehr geehrter Herr Bundestagspräsident,
Sehr geehrter Herr Kommissionspräsident,
Meine sehr verehrten Damen und Herren,

Ich komme gerne nach Berlin und nach Deutchland! It
is important place and time for Europe. Branderburger
Tor is the symbol or the German and the European
reunification. On 17 November 1989 “velvet revolution”
started in Czechoslovakia. Quest for freedom and
human dignity have been leading us all towards current
unity.

It is good to be back after the ground–breaking
Conference of November 2004. The process that was set
in motion here in Berlin has put culture firmly on the
table of the debate on our united Europe. In these years
there are many discussions and questions about crisis in
Europe or about future of Europe. There is a lot of
apathy and skepsis around. I thinks it is the culture
which can give decisive contribution to the European
unity: values and political force.

‘A Soul for Europe’ has evidently brought to the fore a
sentiment that was running like an undercurrent in
various circles across the continent. It was loudly called
for by former President of the Commission Jacques
Delors. And before, by Robert Schuman, Europe’s
Founding Father, this appeal was put this into his
famous message – book Pour l’Europe.

I congratulate the project’s initiators and organisers for
that. The European Commission welcomes this process.
I personally commend its vitality and I am happy to see
that the Commission and other EU institutions are
participating actively in it.

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I have been asked to focus my speech of today on the
intercultural dialogue. But I would first like to say a few
words on the link between culture and the Lisbon
growth and jobs agenda.
We have just published a study on the Economy of
culture in Europe. I presented it to EU culture ministers
at a Council meeting earlier this week.

This is a very interesting document. It highlights both
the direct contribution of the cultural and creative
sectors to the Lisbon Agenda (in terms of GDP, growth
and employment), as well as the indirect contribution
(links between creativity and innovation, links with the
ICT sector, regional development and attractiveness).
By way of example, the cultural and creative sector
represents 2,6 % of European GDP (as opposed to 1,9 %
for the food, beverage and tobacco industries. It
employs 5,8 million people (and this is a conservative
estimate).

Our research confirms that the cultural and creative
sectors have a significant impact on growth and jobs.
We have to overcome usual image of a dichotomy
between economy and culture.

The EU should help to build an environment that
stimulates creativity in our economies and societies.
Creativity and innovation are essential for growth and
competitiveness in the knowledge era. Let me add one
thing in this respect. Support to the cultural industries is
often perceived as an extravagant expense. However,
nothing could be further from the truth. Culture is not a
luxury; it is in fact an extremely sound investment.
Culture brings money!

Every euro spent on culture generates large returns in
economic terms – as I said – but also in terms of
employment, quality of life and social benefits.
Artists and cultural operators are – among other things
the critical conscience of our societies. A lively cultural
scene helps us reflect on who we are, what keeps us
together, where we want to go.

And we are already preparing the next step: an
ambitious political Communication on Culture, which I
will present in the first half of next year, under German
Presidency.
Cultural operators and artists can contribute a great deal.
One notable example is the “Civil Society Platform for

Intercultural Dialogue”, which is just starting to take
shape.
This is an initiative led by the European Forum for Arts
and Heritage, the European Cultural Foundation, and
the Network for European Foundations. I am glad also
to see that the “Soul for Europe” will take part in this
platform.

Ladies and Gentlemen:
Let me now move on to the Commission to organise
2008 as the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue.
I launched the idea as soon as I was appointed
Commissioner for education and culture. My proposal
quickly gathered consensus and it is now planned for

2008. 
      There are plenty of good reasons why the Union should
      work on intercultural dialogue; let me give you just two
      of them.
      Firstly, building Europe has always meant integrating
      histories, value systems, and world views. There is a
      strong sense in which our process of integration has
      always been a dialogue between cultures.
      The EU is traditionally committed to promoting cultural
      diversity and intercultural dialogue around the world.
      The second reason why this is the time to focus on
      intercultural dialogue is that Europe’s cultural landscape
      has grown more diverse in the past few years as a
      consequence of its enlargements and of immigration.
      
      It is now common for European cities – large and small –
      to host many different cultural, religious, and language
      communities. I think that diversity in unity is the best
      narrative for Europe in the XXI Century.
      Unfortunately this new “richness” is not lived or viewed
      positively by all. I do not need to remind you of some of
      the worrying tensions in our societies.
      If we are serious about building a peaceful and creative
      society for tomorrow we need therefore to build a
      culture of dialogue and understanding now. Future starts – as always – today.
      The policy move is necessary and urgent, but it won’t
      be easy. That is why the intercultural dialogue became
      also one pillar within the new programme Culture 2007.

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The Year of Intercultural Dialogue will try to address
these challenges pursuing three overall goals:
raising the awareness of European citizens and of
those living in the Union;
developing social and personal habits that will equip
us for a more open and complex cultural environment;
finally, intercultural dialogue is linked to a more
political goal: creating a sense of European
citizenship.
It is clear that intercultural dialogue is relevant not only
within the EU but also in our relations with third
countries.

Although the proposal is focussed on the territory of the
EU, other countries will be associated, particularly our
neighbours in the rest of Europe and around the
Mediterranean, through our civil society dialogue with
candidate countries, including cooperation with the
Anna Lindh Foundation.
I want to stress that we recognise that ultimately
intercultural dialogue is a bottom-up process. It is for
this reason that the Commission wants to work with a
wide array of partners: national governments, regional
and local authorities, and of course civil society.
Indeed, we need to learn from the grass-roots. That is
why we have asked civil society to send us their ideas
for the initiatives which will be funded by us as part of
the Year.
We believe that learning from best practices is essential.
Indeed, next week, we will host a conference and
exhibition in Brussels identifying good practices of
projects funded by Community programmes. We are
also launching a study on Member State approaches to
intercultural dialogue, and the results should be
available by next summer.
I often hear sceptical voices, doubting what we can
achieve with a single Year. I understand these concerns.
However I want to underline that the Commission wants
this European Year to be the beginning, not the end of
something; the start of a truly long-term, durable
process that lasts well beyond 2008.

As of next year, all the policies under my responsibility
will be used to promote dialogue between cultures, and
the same will also apply to some of our external
policies. It will remain a priority in years to come.
Indeed, let me remind you that the policies and
programmes of the Directorate General for Education
and Culture – for which I am responsible, – have in fact
been indirectly promoting intercultural dialogue for
many years, even though we did not use the label as
such in the past. Let me remind you of the: – 1,5 million Erasmus students since 1987 (we hope
for 3 million by 2012); – The target of 3 million pupils involved in
partnerships between 2007-13 in our Comenius
programme for school exchanges; – Hundreds of thousands of young people involved
in our European Voluntary Service and youth
programme; – Thousands more citizens involved in our
citizenship programmes, each year, including town
twinning exchanges each year.

Ladies and Gentlemen:
The objective and the criterion of culture must be
promotion and respect of human dignity. This is the first
value which unites us. Relation to human dignity is
actually a defining line in relation to humanity and
civilizations. I believe that maintaining an open,
peaceful and constructive dialogue among all the
political, social, and cultural partners is absolutely
essential. In effect, I would like to put forward the claim
that this permanent dialogue is the very proof of
Europe’s living and sharing soul. Dialogue is not
weakness; it is a sign of maturity. In dialogue 1 + 1 is
more than 2, because it brings synergy – new
knowledge, understanding, and relation. It is true in a
family, in a community, nation, between nations.

Because indispensable values for any sustainable
community – humanity and solidarity – are the
functions, the products of a responsible, emphatic
human soul. To give a soul for Europe is very
important, hence – as Jean Monnet said very wisely –
“we are not building alliance of states, we integrate
people”.

Thank you.