New Horizons: from the first Berlin Conference to the launching of the European House for Culture EEIG at EAB Berlin

Under the slogan: “A Soul for Europe”, a famous quote by Jacques Delors, which he gladly made available to the initiators, the first Berlin Conference for European Cultural Policy was held on 26 and 27 November 2004.

The name of the conference was somewhat misleading. The initiators were not concerned with discussing the cultural policy of the European Union, or the role of cultural policy in the various member states, nay, it was about defining the European unification process first and foremost as a cultural process.

Such a vision naturally has repercussions for the existing cultural policy of the member states and the Commission. If this view were to meet with the approval of European and national politicians, cultural policy would presumably no longer take place exclusively within the more or less cosy walls of culture ministries, but in all areas and at all levels of European and therefore national policy.

FMCC and its partner the European House for Culture, whose founders co-initiated the 2004 event, noted that the initial premise: “the European Unification process should be seen as a cultural process”, heavily supported by former EC president Barroso who was asked to open the conference, had also been heard by the European Commission, which at the 2017 Gothenburg Social Summit launched its motto: “Strengthening European Identity through Education and Culture”.

Both organisations and their partners will now give priority to the implementation of that motto in all their activities.

To foster effective cross-border cooperation, some partners from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands will establish the European Economic Interest Grouping (EEIG) ‘European House for Culture’ during the conference in Berlin comprising the European House for Culture, Metropool International Art Projects, Felix Meritis Connecting Cultures, Stichting Caucasus Foundation, De School van Gaasbeek and the Europäische Akademie Berlin.