Decision 2017/864 - European Year of Cultural Heritage (2018) - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 131/1

The ideals, principles and values embedded in Europe's cultural heritage constitute a shared source of remembrance, understanding, identity, dialogue, cohesion and creativity for Europe. Cultural heritage plays a role in the European Union and the preamble to the Treaty on European Union (TEU) states that the signatories drew inspiration from the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe.

Article 3(3) TEU states that the Union is to respect its rich cultural and linguistic diversity, and ensure that Europe's cultural heritage is safeguarded and enhanced.

Article 167 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) gives the Union the task of contributing to the flowering of the cultures of the Member States, while respecting their national and regional diversity and at the same time bringing the common cultural heritage to the fore. Union action is to be aimed at encouraging cooperation between Member States and, if necessary, supporting and supplementing their action in the areas of, inter alia, the improvement of the knowledge and dissemination of the culture and history of the European peoples, and the conservation and safeguarding of cultural heritage of European significance.

As highlighted by the Commission in its communication of 22 July 2014 entitled ‘Towards an integrated approach to cultural heritage for Europe’, cultural heritage is to be considered a shared resource and a common good held in trust for future generations. It is therefore a common responsibility of all stakeholders to look after cultural heritage.

Cultural heritage is of great value to European society from a cultural, environmental, social and economic point of view. Thus, its sustainable management constitutes a strategic choice for the twenty-first century, as stressed by the Council in its conclusions of 21 May 2014 (3). The contribution of cultural heritage in terms of value creation, skills and jobs, and quality of life is underestimated.

Cultural heritage is central to the European Agenda for Culture (4) and contributes to its objectives, which are the promotion of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue, the promotion of culture as a catalyst for creativity, and the promotion of culture as a vital element in the Union's international relations. It is also one of the four priorities for European cooperation on culture for the period 2015-2018, as set out in the current Work Plan for Culture, adopted by the Council and the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council, on 25 November 2014 (5).

The Council, in its conclusions of 21 May 2014, stated that cultural heritage encompasses a broad spectrum of resources inherited from the past in all forms and aspects — tangible, intangible and digital (born digital and digitised), including monuments, sites, landscapes, skills, practices, knowledge and expressions of human creativity, as well as collections conserved and managed by public and private bodies such as museums, libraries and archives. Cultural heritage also includes film...