International conference Exit Europe - New Cultural Geography, which was held in Zagreb in November 2009 (12-15 November) dealt with the European cultural policies, with a particular emphasis on new cultural practices in the former Yugoslav countries and a critical reassessment of the EU enlargement process from the perspective of emerging political and social geographies. The conference was organised by the Alliance for the Center for Independent Culture and Youth Zagreb, Network Clubture and Culture Action Europe.

In addition to the significant actors gathered in the field of culture (policy makers, experts, theorists, operators) from the Western Balkans and Europe, the importance of the conference is reflected in the fact that it proposed concrete solutions to EU and with regard to the culture of the region and its integration into all relevant strategies. This kind of mobilisation and reactivity of independent cultural organisations can through gradual processes of positioning give visible results in the coming years.

In the frame of the conference presentation of the organization Culture Action Europe was held, as well as discussion on the topic of advocacy in the culture that was led by Daphne Tepper, analyst at CAE which deals with advocacy in the field of cultural policies at EU level. My colleague, Antonia Letinić made interview with Daphne Tepper, published on the portal Kulturpunkt.hr. According to the fact that this interview speaks on the European Agenda for Culture and relationship between EU and the Western Blakan I wanted to present it here as it might be interesting for cultural operators from outside of the region of Western Balkans, and it seems important to be publish here, in English. With permission of Daphne Tepper I give you opportunity to read this fantastic interview.


The current and important topic is the Agenda for culture. What is its importance and what can be changed with it?

The Agenda was published in 2007 by the European Commission, and then adopted by the Member States in the EU Council of Ministers of Culture. What is a real breakthrough is that Member States have agreed, for the first time, to finally give meaning to the 'culture clause' introduced in the EU Treaties in 1992. Till 2007 the article 151 –on the competence of the Union in the field of culture – had been given a minimal interpretation. The Agenda is now giving it content, and there is a commitment of the EU institutions and of the Member States to work further together in the cultural field.

As a symbol it is already very important that this Agenda exists. Content wise it has three priority areas: intercultural dialogue and cultural diversity, culture and the economy, and culture and external relations. As these three objectives are quite vaguely defined in the Agenda, what is important now is to develop the actions that will bring them to life.

For the West Balkans region, the third objective is very important because it also concerns pre-accession, candidate and neighborhood countries. It opens the doors for more developed European action in the field of culture in the region. Cultural action and support are indeed included more and more often in overarching strategies of the EU, and we have to ask the EU to take culture into account in their pre-accession policies too. So the Agenda is a very important step but we should not stop there. That is why conference Exit Europe is very important. We have to develop and recommend concrete ways for the EU to support culture in the region and to integrate it in all its relevant strategies. We have to give content to an overall favorable policy framework.

What are the necessary steps to be taken now?

First of all we have to continue informing the actors in the region - as all cultural actors across Europe - of the existence of the Agenda, how it works, and how it can be translated into policies and actions at European and Member States level. An other important thing about the Agenda is that it carries potential developments for European policies but also national policies. The Agenda has indeed set up Member states working groups dealing with the mobility of artists, of collections, culture and education and the creative industries. There is no direct obligation to achieve change through this working groups, but Member States are asked to collaborate, share information, reinforce the dialogue between the different decision makers in their own country and at European level. We believe that civil society should take this opportunity to put pressure on their governments to seriously develop their collaborations at European level, but also to affect some change at national level.

During this conference, many recommendations came out of the discussions:  the need to support networks and platforms, to train cultural operators to understand the policy making systems affecting their existence and practice, to develop mobility funds to allow people to meet, discuss and work in partnership, etc. The task is now to break down all the needs identified and to transform them into concrete demands that could then be supported by comprehensive policies.

In the accession policies framework, a lot more could be done to support cultural operators. We have to identify those and put on the table concrete recommendations.

In your opinion, when can we expect some effects?

At EU level affecting change is in general the end result of a long process. But with the Agenda and the new dynamics that it has created, we are living an important momentum. There are more and more formal consultations of civil society actors organised in Brussels by the European Commission. We have to have the capacity to answer to those consultations and formulate clear recommendations. So now that we have managed to mobilise actors around European questions, we have to deepen our reflection in order to transform our needs into concrete demands. We definitely will continue to work with Clubture and the regional initiative to sharpen those policy demands and make sure they are channeled to the right interlocutors at European, regional and national levels.

The fact that a representative of the Directorate General for Enlargement of the European Commission took part in the Exit Europe conference is also an important sign. So there is a momentum now, if we keep mobilized, through a step-by-step process, I am convinced that we could see some results in the years to come. The EU budget for the period 2013-2020 will, for example, be negotiated next year. It is the right moment to try to influence it.

What do you think brought culture in the focus of political interest?
 
I see many reasons for that. First of all, in the last years, the EU has been challenged to address important questions such as the need of developing a 'European citizenship', to reconnect Europeans to the political integration project being developed for the last 50 years. The referenda have for sure been important 'wake up calls' in this context.  European politicians realised the importance for the EU to be more than an economic market, and that other dimensions such as social and cultural issues should also be part of the common thinking. Another important element, in my opinion, is the transformations that happened in our societies in the last decades. Migrations, diversity, interculturality are key questions we have to address and they have strong cultural components.  And all those debates should ideally happen within a European public space that does not really exist for the moment. Culture could play a key role in creating this European public space. Finally, there is a greater understanding as well of the potential role of culture in participating in the achievement of overarching social and economic objectives.

Do you think that this change in perspective has something to do with the current economic crisis and crisis of democracy?

I think the EU is definitely facing a democracy deficit, and that citizens feel very far away from the EU. They don't understand it and don't feel part of it. 

The financial crisis, on the other hand, developed after the adoption of the Agenda. There were already concerns of course, at the time of the Agenda preparation and adoption, on the sustainability of our economy, but the crisis came afterwards and, actually, when the crisis started there were very different reactions concerning culture. Some voices, coming from the sector, quickly positioned arts and culture as important actors in the rethinking of our economic and social models. Other actors, mainly in the political remit, had the usual reflex of cutting cultural funding considered as 'luxury' in time of crisis.

It is difficult to anticipate which tendency will impose itself at European level. We will know in the next years, as the European Union will adopt its future strategies and budget. Will arts and culture receive the deserved attention or will its importance be diminished?

How do you perceive the Western Balkans and its role in the development and collaboration from the cultural aspect?

Politically this region is of course very complex. I however see cultural actors as important partners in the thinking and development of the role of culture in the European project in general.  The Western Balkans cultural actors we are working with have indeed a very accurate sense of the political role of culture. This is a lot clearer that in Western Europe because cultural actors in Western Balkans are extremely aware of the role culture could play for societal and political change. This perspective helps us to have a fresh look at how we place culture in the European integration project in general. A lot of new ideas are coming from this region, because of the urgency often faced by many actors. We have to be inspired by this political activism and integrate it in our European strategies. We have to experiment new ideas through collaborations and exchanges with cultural operators from the Western Balkans.

What effects could be provoked by conference Exit Europe?

I think this conference was an extremely interesting model of partnership between different levels of actors, both at political level (European, regional and national) and within the sector (European, regional and national cultural operators and activists).  We were confirmed in the idea that it makes a lot of sense to develop joint political thinking and actions.

At the level of our own advocacy actions, in Culture Action Europe, we will also take on board the recommendations made concerning the importance of supporting the local actors to engage in advocacy actions. We have to develop training, support systems, models of 'incubators' that will allow cultural operators to develop their advocacy capabilities and develop actions at local level. We have to also continue thinking about the definitions and roles of civil society, sharing our experiences in the different regions of Europe.

The Western Balkans cultural actors are facing very specific problems that cannot all be solved at European levels. We should however develop our solidarity in order to make sure that cultural across Europe work together to both promote European values and standards, and to influence national policy making in this direction. The momentum is there, the partners have been identified, we have to be conscious of the trends affecting our societies, and mobilise as civil society actors to influence European and national policy makers. We have to address together questions of governance and our role in European cultural policymaking.

We have to continue working together to develop concrete recommendations. What kinds of political dialogue, support and funding schemes, mobility incentives do we need?  The EU policy makers are looking for cultural civil society interlocutors in the region. We have to make sure we are one of them.



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At the same time as Exit Europe, in Zagreb was held another conference, the one of Network for Research Networks and Cooperation in Cultural Development on which my colleague Cristina Farinha has already written.