Bring culture back in the Commissioner’s title: CAE letter to president-elect von der Leyen
IETM has contributed to and signed Culture Action Europe's open letter calling on the European Commission's president-elect, Ursula von der Leyen, to include Culture in the title of the new Commissioner Mariya Gabriel. Read the letter below and sign this online petition.
Dear Ms. President-elect,
We congratulate you on finalising the challenging task of forming the future European Commission.
Culture is grouped together with youth, research, innovation, sport and education in the portfolio of Ms Gabriel. We are pleased to see culture embedded in this range of areas which are vital for the future of the European Union. However, we are deeply concerned with the downgrading of the position of culture within the Commissioner’s portfolio, primarily reflected in the fact that “Culture” is missing from her title.
Culture is a distinct and vast component of the European unity, which is essential for building a shared prosperous future for all European citizens. The tremendous role of culture in European integration has been consistently recognised by the European institutions in the past few years, creating an unprecedented opportunity to seize its potential for building a strong and united European community. Now, with culture missing from the official title of the designated commissioner, we have serious doubts as to whether it will remain at the appropriate level of recognition.
Undoubtedly, all cultural and creative sectors are powerful drivers of innovation; moreover, culture is closely linked with the youth policies. However, it remains an autonomous domain of enormous dimensions bringing its own contribution to the construction of our societies.
Therefore, on behalf of cultural organisations co-signing this letter, we call for changing Ms Gabriel’s title into “Innovation, Youth and Culture”.
Considering culture’s immense role in very different fields of sustainable development, we appreciate that you have embedded some cultural aspects in the portfolios of other Commissioners. To reinforce the new structure, we call for a specific mandate to foster dialogue and synchronise actions among other commissioners and vice-presidents dealing with culture-related matters.
List of signatories:
Associació d’Escriptors en Llengua Catalana
Association Européenne des Conservatoires
Center for Kunst & Interkultur – CKI
Dace Melbārde, 2nd Vice Chair, CULT committee
European Composer and Songwriter Alliance (ECSA)
European Concert Hall Organisation
European Federation of National Youth Orchestras (EFNYO)
EWC – European Writers’ Council
FECED (Spanish Federation of Dance Companies)
International Association of Art (IAA) Europe
ITI Germany on behalf of EU Secretariat for German Culture NGOs
Luca Bergamo – Vice Mayor and Deputy Mayor for Culture, City of Rome
National Association of Creative and Cultural Industries Latvia
Niklas Nienaß, MEP- Member of the CULT Committee
Onda / Office national de diffusion artistique
Resartis – Worldwide network of arts residencies
