EU ministers adopt the Cáceres Declaration aimed at promoting culture as an essential public good

IRIS 2023-9:1/4

Amélie Lacourt

European Audiovisual Observatory

In the framework of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU, the 27 EU Ministers for Culture and the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth met up on 25 and 26 September 2023 during the plenary session of the Informal Ministerial Meeting in Cáceres, Spain. The meeting was chaired by Miquel Iceta, the Spanish Minister for Culture and Sport, and focused on the Presidency’s priorities in the field of culture.

All ministers endorsed the Cáceres Declaration, reaffirming their commitment to culture. In particular, they undertook to make culture "an essential public good, a global public good, at the highest policy level" and to strengthen the cultural policies of the EU and the member states. In the Declaration, ministers also reflected on the need to recognise culture as a new sustainable development goal, in the context of the revision of the 2030 Agenda.

The Presidency’s programme also includes promoting digital cultural creation as a new way of producing and creating culture. At Spain’s request, the Council of the EU included the video game industry among the priority creative sectors and on an equal footing with other audiovisual and cultural creations. During the meeting, Miquel Iceta also raised other issues, such as adopting a common European strategy for the video game sector and the status of the artist. These topics will be discussed in subsequent meetings at the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council on 23 and 24 November 2023 in Brussels.


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This article has been published in IRIS Legal Observations of the European Audiovisual Observatory.