Summaries of EU legislation
Culture

Article 167 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union defines the role of the European Union (EU) in the area of culture: it supports, coordinates or supplements the actions of member countries and seeks to bring Europe's common cultural heritage to the fore.
The EU supports actions to preserve cultural heritage, and promote cooperation and transnational exchanges between cultural institutions in member countries. A new funding programme ‘Creative Europe’ will run between 2014 and 2020. Other initiatives include Heritage Days (locally-based initiatives that allow access to sites not normally open to the public) and Capitals of Culture, both launched in 1985.
The EU also works with other international organisations to tackle issues like trafficking of cultural goods.
-
Culture Policy
- Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions
- Returning cultural objects unlawfully taken from another EU country
- International cultural relations — an EU strategy
- Export of cultural goods
- European Year of Youth 2022
- Digitising and preserving Europe's cultural heritage online for universal access
- Culture’s role in EU development cooperation
- Culture and the EU’s international relations
- Culture Programmes
-
Archived summaries
- Bulgaria
- Creative Europe Programme (2014 to 2020)
- Croatia – Information Society and Media
- "Culture 2000" Programme
- Culture programme (2007-13)
- Cyprus
- Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency
- Estonia
- European agenda for culture in a globalising world
- Europe for Citizens (2007-13)
- European Capital of Culture
- European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (2008)
- European Year of Creativity and Innovation (2009)
- Hungary
- i2010: Digital libraries
- Iceland – Information society and media
- Green Paper on the potential of cultural and creative industries
- Looking after Europe’s cultural heritage
- Malta
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of an EU country
- Poland
- Online access to Europe’s cultural heritage
- Online digitisation of cultural heritage
- Online digitization of cultural heritage
- Romania
- Work Plan for Culture 2008-2010
- Work Plan for Culture 2011-14
- The Czech Republic
- The EU’s Culture work plan (2015-2018)
- Slovakia
- Turkey – Information society and media
- The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia – Information society and media
- Slovenia