The European Council of Artists, gathering interdisciplinary artists' councils and artists' organisations for 25 European countries, has closely monitored the process of drafting a UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity.
ECA welcomes the progress that took place at the intergovernmental meeting in Paris 25th of May to 3rd of June, at which the majority of countries, among them all EU countries, approved on a consolidated text that will be presented for UNESCO General Conference in October.
Although some parts of the document are weaker than we had wished, we acknowledge the need for compromise and it is our opinion that the present draft is an achievement that - if approved - will contribute to the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural contents and artistic expressions.
The important Article 20 that addresses the relation to the other international instruments says that this convention shall not be subordinated to other treaties on the one hand, but should on the other hand not dominate other treaties. But the lack of strong instruments for resolving conflicts related to this article makes us fear that the article will not be very effective.
From the artists' point of view we have also noticed that the artists' contribution to cultural diversity is not any more part of the title or the preamble of the convention. To some extent this is repaired by a clearer wording in some of the paragraphs of article 4 and especially in 6, where the obligations of state parties to nurture and support artists are mentioned.
Taking into account the many efforts on international level to limit the right of states to protect and promote the diversity of cultures and artistic expressions, we think it is high time to adopt the Convention at the UNESCO General Conference and we urge the governments of Europe only to accept changes of the present text, if they make the Convention even more efficient.
Hubert Biebaut,
President