Commission takes stock of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018

The European Commission has today published report providing an overview of the implementation and results of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, focusing on its four main pillars: engagement for heritage, sustainability, protection and innovation. It highlights the positive impact of the European Year on the perception of Europe’s cultural heritage as an important resource for Europe. During the European Year, over 12.8 million people took part in more than 23,000 events organised across 37 countries. Tibor Navracsics, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, said: “I am proud of what we have achieved together with Member States, the European Parliament and organisations from the cultural sector and wider society. We brought our shared cultural heritage higher on the EU agenda and, importantly, right into many citizens’ daily lives. The task now is to make sure that the European Year of Cultural Heritage has an impact in the long term, so that we fully harness the potential of cultural heritage for social, economic, environmental and regional development, and in building a cohesive, resilient Europe for the future.” To ensure that the European Year has a lasting impact, the Commission presented in December 2018 a European Framework for Action on Cultural Heritage, which aims at implementing a longer-term vision for the management, safeguarding and enhancement of Europe’s cultural heritage. In the Bucharest Declaration adopted on 16 April 2019, EU Ministers of Culture recognised that “the success of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 was based on an appropriate multi-stakeholder governance framework, a clear thematic focus, the engagement of different parts of our societies and cross-border cooperation”. The European Parliament was very supportive of the Year and of further actions at EU level promoting heritage.