European external cultural relations

Although culture is still a field of competence for each Member State, the EU is active in the area of European external cultural relations and complements the activities of Member States whenever it is necessary and appropriate.

The study forms part of a reflection on the future actions of the European Union (EU) in the field of external cultural relations. It takes stock of the main EU mechanisms for supporting European external cultural relations since 2007 in order to ascertain which policy areas are involved in funding culture and the kinds of projects and actors that receive funding.
Furthermore the paper looks at the shortcomings of current EU funding possibilities and proposes some alternative models of cooperation and funding, which have been developed by other actors in the area of European external cultural relations.