This research paper is a contribution to the project "Gateway to Cultural Co-operation" (G2CC) which is supported by the EU Commission and carried out by the European Cultural Foundation, Fondazione Fitzcarraldo, On the Move, and ERICarts. The purpose of the paper was to clarify a definition for European Cultural Co-operation and build a conceptual framework on what it means in practice. The paper begins by elaborating the meaning of the individual elements in this composite term and proceeds to build bridges between the more practical aspects of the terms and theoretical perspectives put forth by philosophers such as Jurgen Habermas. It concludes by proposing the following definition: “European Cultural Cooperation” is to be understood as a process in which public and private actors take action or implement measures with the aim of mobilising artistic or cultural collaboration between individuals, groups and institutions in Europe, or, in short: as shared communicative action across European boundaries using artistic and other cultural means.