Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on a European Year of Cultural Heritage

The ideals, principles and values embedded in the European cultural heritage constitute a shared source of remembrance, understanding, identity, dialogue, cohesion and creativity for Europe. Since the adoption of the European Agenda for Culture in 2007, cultural heritage has been a priority under successive Council Work Plans for Culture, including the current plan for the period 2015-2018. Cooperation at European level has taken place mainly through the open method of coordination.

In 2014, the role of heritage policies for delivering social and economic benefits was highlighted in the Council conclusions on cultural heritage as a strategic resource for a sustainable Europe (21 May 2014), and in the Commission Communication Towards an integrated approach to cultural heritage for Europe. An invitation to the Commission to propose a ‘European Year of Cultural Heritage’ was included in the Council conclusions on participatory governance of cultural heritage, adopted on 25 November 2014.

The European Year of Cultural Heritage will offer opportunities for European citizens to better understand the present through a richer and shared interpretation of the past. It will stimulate a better evaluation of the social and economic benefits of cultural heritage and of its contribution to economic growth and social cohesion. This can be assessed, for instance, in terms of the promotion of sustainable tourism and urban regeneration.

It will highlight the challenges and opportunities linked to digitisation. It will also contribute to addressing the identified challenges, through the dissemination of best practices concerning: safeguarding; management; enhancement; governance; and research and innovation activities. Recent breakthroughs in terms of technological and social innovation in the field of cultural heritage, as well as the EU's initiatives in these domains, will be highlighted.

EUR-Lex: COM(2016)543: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2016:543:FIN

ESO: Background information: Commission proposes 2018 as the European Year of Cultural Heritage http://www.europeansources.info/record/commission-proposes-2018-as-the-european-year-of-cultural-heritage/

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