On June 2016, the Commission and the European external Action service presented the Joint Communication 'Towards an EU strategy for international cultural relations'. In it, three work streams are outlined:
- Supporting culture as an engine for sustainable social and economic development. It involves supporting the development of cultural policies in other countries and strengthening cultural and creative industries, recognizing their economic weight and their potential for creating smart sustainable jobs.
- Promoting Culture and intercultural dialogue for peaceful inter-community relations. It encompasses cooperation amongst cultural operators and fostering peace-building through Inter-Cultural Dialogue.
- Reinforcing cooperation of cultural heritage. It means protecting, rehabilitating and promoting cultural heritage as well as incentivising research and innovation in cultural heritage activities.
These measures have the objective of making the EU a stronger global actor through taking advantage of complementarity and synergies in the cultural activities of Member States. The EESC is currently drafting an Opinion on the Communication with Mr Luca Jahier as Rapporteur. As part of the preparatory work for the Opinion a hearing will be held on March 1st in order to hear the perspective of civil society, multilateral institutions and other culture operators.