The first plenary session was moderated by Odile Quintin and included Jan Figel', Hans Gert Pottering and Jordi Savall. While Pottering insisted on the importance of tolerance as a primary component for diversity, Savall stressed out that tolerance implies a value of 'difference' - you can only be tolerant if you feel superior or confident enough. Jordi Savall strongly stated that intercultural dialogue can only happen if both parties are dialoguing on the same level.

When questioned about the importance of the digital shift in the creation, consumption and promotion of culture the answers of the panel were a bit surprising. Commissioner Figel' agreed on the importance of new technologies, mentioning Richard Florida's 3Ts (Talent, Technology and Tolerance). Pottering was more concrete in his answers, and eventually ended up stating that the responsibilty of the EU was also to ensure open and equal access to new technologies to defend human rights - mentioning for instance Iran and China as examples of 'filtered' access to online technologies. As he concluded: "The Internet has to be used for the good" (what is 'good' on the Internet is left as an exercise to the reader, though).

Mr Pottering also has an interesting stance on the role of education in intercultural dialogue - he mentioned for instance how 'soft power' can be used instead of military means in case of security reasons. Similarly, 'soft skills' developed by the education system can also help to expand and emphasize dialogue between cultures - for instance, using the same school books in schools of Israel and Palestine to foster the mutual understanding of young generations.