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On 2 October 2024, the coordinators of the Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) in the European Parliament defined its political priorities for the period 2024 – 2029. The Council of the European Union has its own EU Work Plan for Culture (2023 – 2026), as a contributing part of a potential “New European Agenda for Culture” in the future. This will need to be coordinated with the announced “Culture Compass” by the recently confirmed new Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, Mr. Glenn Micallef, from the Labour Party in Malta.
As horizontal priorities, the Committee stressed the importance of the current Erasmus+, Creative Europe and European Solidarity Corps programmes, so that they are allocated a suitable budget for the 2028 – 2034 Multiannual Financial Framework negotiation starting in 2026.
Furthermore, the term will address the specific implications of the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the cultural and creative sectors and industries. As a suggestion to implement this priority, the CULT coordinators suggest to carry out a stocktaking exercise addressing the specific impact of AI on the cultural and creative sectors and industries. In particular, a study addressing the specific impact of AI on the cultural and creative sectors and industries can be commissioned before the end of 2024 or early 2025. Moreover, an exchange of views with experts focused on the trends in the use of AI in the cultural sector can be organised.
The European Parliament will pursue its work on the Union framework for the social and professional situation of artists and other professionals in the cultural and creative sectors. Therefore, CULT coordinators invite their fellow Members of the European Parliament to follow-up on the ongoing legislative initiative, thereby organising an exchange of views with the European Commission so that best practices can be shared and specific professional situations, such as street arts professionals, are addressed.
The fourth priority is enhancing the presence, content access and content discoverability in the digital environment of European artistic creation.
In order to protect the European heritage, the coordinators have announced an own initiative report on the future of the European Capitals of Culture.
In the field of education, the European Education Area (EEA) should provide for some progress in the portability and recognition of diplomas and learning periods, as well as permeability between vocational training and higher education.
The opportunities and risks of the use of AI in education also need to be addressed.
Audiovisual policy is a key area for CULT. It will will follow up on the innovation and digital aspects of the audiovisual sector (including films, video games and virtual worlds in general, as well s content creation).
It will follow up on the implementation of the May 2023 Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AMSD), putting the focus on the protection of minors and online influence based on audiovisual and user generated content promotion of European works and the AMSD interplay with other EU pieces of legislation, such as the European Media Freedom Act, the Digital Services Act, and the Digital Markets Act.
In particular the CULT coordinators would like to organise an exchange of views with the European Commission in 2024, where the Commission Report, published on 26 June 2024, on the application of Articles 13, 16 and 17 of the AMSD could be presented. In addition, in early 2025 a public hearing could be organised as a follow-up to the issues raised by the European Parliament implementation report on the AMSD with the participation of external experts.
CULT will also foster further exchanges with international actors such as the European Audiovisual Observatory in the Council of Europe and work on a roadmap to foster culture and innovation in the audiovisual sector.
Source of image: Lara Magoni