ENCATC responds to public consultation on EU funds in the area of cohesion
On 9 March, ENCATC contributed its point of view to the European Commission’s public consultation on EU funds in the area of cohesion. ENCATC strongly believes that culture and education are crucial for fostering social cohesion, intercultural dialogue, mutual understanding and tolerance. Furthermore, in the European Year of Cultural Heritage, Europe's common cultural heritage can be a positive force to bring together communities at the local, regional, national and European level.
ENCATC recommends to have support for cultural and entrepreneurial education and research and innovation for culture and to promote culture -led (including heritage) urban and rural regeneration. Furthermore, in today's fast-paced changing environment, more than an activity, ENCATC sees lifelong learning is a key skill and attitude that is sensitive to and is instrumental in promoting and maintaining social and economic cohesion across the board. This is an issue where cohesion and education programmes may work synergistically.
The public consultation was launched in January because in 2018, the European Commission will make comprehensive proposals for the next generation of financial programmes for the post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework, which is the EU's long–term budget. The Commission's proposals will be designed to make it possible for the EU to deliver on the things that matter most, in areas where it can achieve more than Member States acting alone. This requires a careful assessment both of what has worked well in the past and what could be improved in the future. This consultation is an integral part of the process and its objective is to collect the views of all interested parties on how to make the most of every euro of the EU budget. Similar consultations have taken place in the context of evaluations of existing EU financial programmes in several policy areas, including on current performance and future challenges. The views expressed by stakeholders in these consultations will be taken into account in the current process for the future Multiannual Financial Framework.