Council and European Parliament representatives reached a provisional agreement on the European Year of Cultural Heritage

Council and European Parliament representatives reached a provisional agreement on the European Year of Cultural Heritage

FRH welcomes the provisional agreement on a decision establishing a European Year of Cultural Heritage reached by the Council and the European Parliament on 9 February 2017.

Photo by OOgilles – Brussels, Belgium

FRH –  that is part of the European Heritage Alliance 3.3, FRH – has strongly supported this initiative from the beginning.

As announced in the official press release, the European Year will have a dedicated financial envelope of EUR 8 million.

Representatives of the European Parliament will be able to participate as observers in the meetings of national coordinators convened by the Commission for the running of the European Year.

Owen Bonnici, the Maltese Minister for Justice, Culture and Local Government said: “As Europeans we have a particularly rich cultural heritage born of our long shared history. I welcome the opportunity to celebrate that heritage and to take pride in all that makes up our common European identity”.

Next steps

Coreper will be invited to endorse the agreement at a forthcoming meeting. The Chairman of Coreper will then send a letter to the Chairperson of the European Parliament’s CULT committee.

That letter will indicate that, if the Parliament adopts at its plenary session the compromise text as approved by the Coreper, the Council will adopt the text in first reading without amendments.

This should enable the new legislation to enter into force soon enough to allow the Commission and member states sufficient time for the necessary preparations.

Read the news on the Council of the EU website

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