Resolution on cultural solidarity with Ukraine and a joint emergency response mechanism for cultural recovery in Europe
The European Parliament adopted a resolution on cultural solidarity with Ukraine and a joint emergency response mechanism for cultural recovery in Europe.
Russia’s war against Ukraine is an attempt to eradicate the identity and culture of a sovereign nation, also through strategic and targeted acts of destruction on cultural heritage sites, constituting a war crime. It also puts at risk artists and cultural workers, journalists and academics, spreading a climate of fear and disbelief to the detriment of freedom of the arts, quality news, media independence and access to information, academic freedom and freedom of expression in the wider sense.
The illicit destruction of cultural heritage and the looting and smuggling of cultural property and artefacts represent a major threat to the identity of all Ukrainians and minorities within the country and will hamper post-conflict national reconciliation.
Against this background, the resolution called for strengthened support and solidarity towards the Ukrainian cultural ecosystem.
The EU should:
- offer targeted support to Ukrainian cultural actors, small and medium-sized enterprises, NGOs, local cultural activities, universities and civil society in designing and developing the country’s roadmap to reconstruction and recovery;
- offer support to the Ukrainian authorities, in particular at the local and regional levels, together with civil society as a constructive partner in the reconstruction of the country and, in particular, in the restoration of cultural sites;
- participate in the preservation of works of art and cultural heritage through the application of all legal tools for the protection and the prevention of trafficking in or the illegal export of cultural heritage in times of war.
The Commission and the Member States are called on to:
- include the emergency needs of the culture and cultural heritage sectors within the EU’s humanitarian support to Ukraine;
- focus on culture in all key EU policies and priorities such as climate action, the digital transformation, economic recovery and international relations;
- scale up their innovation capacity in terms of cooperation and public-private partnerships in order to increase resilience against future crises affecting the cultural and creative sectors and industries;
- further foster the digitalisation of the CCSI and ensure broad digital access to artistic and cultural creations.
Moreover, Parliament called on the Commission in particular to:
- explore the possibility of establishing or acting as a partner in a European emergency response and recovery mechanism dedicated specifically to the cultural, cultural heritage and creative ecosystems;
- propose the legal and fiscal framework for such a mechanism and draw up a list of associate strategic partners from all sectors concerned, public or private and including philanthropic partnership models in order to enable the strategic pooling of resources, thereby strengthening public funding and optimising support for the cultural and creative sectors and industries.