Study slams EU cultural activity as ‘irrelevant’

Date: 02/10/1997

By Leyla Linton

EUROPEAN cultural policy actions are “extremely abstract” and are seen as “largely irrelevant” by the majority of artists and others working in the cultural sector, according to a new report.

Research carried out by the European Forum for the Arts and Heritage (EFAH) suggests a lack of information and “a considerable amount of suspicion about anything related to the European Commission” are the main cause of problems.

The study drew on responses to questionnaires sent to 800 European cultural organisations which revealed a catalogue of difficulties. Applicants for grants complained that the Commission did not produce a coherent directory for EU cultural action, that it was difficult for 'beginners' to choose the right funding routes, and that calls for applications for cultural programmes came too late and were badly publicised.

Many described communication with officials in the Commission's Directorate-General for culture (DGX) as “debilitating and complicated”.

DGX's decision-making procedures also came under fire for lacking transparency. The EFAH report says applying for funding is “something like a lottery” because of unclear criteria, and it criticises inflexible application forms. “Decisions are anonymous, which means that no one is accountable,” said the paper's author Hilde Teuchies.

The paper also points to the current one-year limit on projects as “too restrictive” and says the late payment of subsidies creates serious cash-flow problems for cultural organisations. It criticises DGX programmes as “too small, with insufficient impact”.

A Commission spokesman said delays in funding projects were not the fault of DGX. He blamed national governments for wrangling over financial support.

The research findings will be discussed by representatives from national ministries and cultural organisations in Marseilles over the next three days (2-4 October). They will examine how to replace the current EU cultural programmes Kaleidoscope and Ariane, which expire at the end of 1998, and Raphael which runs to the end of 1999.

Suggestions that a single cultural fund be created after 1999 have not been well received by those working in the field, amid fears that member states will simply slash the amount of money allocated to it. The Commission is due to present proposals for a single fund to culture ministers when they meet in November.