Culture is one of the ‘most effective’ shields against extremism, says EU Commissioner Micallef
The EU’s first-ever strategic framework on culture is one step closer to realisation. European Commissioner Glenn Micallef told Euronews it will be a key tool to safeguard EU culture’s role in combating division, and to tackle challenges concerning AI and artistic freedom.
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00:00In an exclusive interview with Euronews, EU Commissioner for Culture Glenn Mikalev presented a significant deliverable of his portfolio, the Culture Compass.
00:11It was greenlit by the Commission on Wednesday. This marks the first such framework to shape cultural policy in EU history.
00:18The timing of this is apt, given the reports of attacks on artistic freedom across the EU as cited by the Commission.
00:26Mikalev stressed the political importance of safeguarding this freedom.
00:30When artists are free to express themselves, when they are free to artistically express their voices, then democracy has a voice.
00:41So what we want to do is we want to strengthen artistic freedom.
00:46We want to give the opportunity for people to be able to access more easily our culture and our heritage in Europe.
00:55Because this is one of the most effective shields that we have to division and extremism.
01:01And this is why I say continuously that if we invest in culture, it pays back twice. It pays today and tomorrow.
01:09The Compass also addresses concerns about the influence of AI on copyright infringements.
01:14Many artists have expressed frustrations regarding AI models training on their work without their permission.
01:20This has led to legal action being taken.
01:23The EU has existing regulatory frameworks in place to set rules for this technology, including the Digital Services Act, the AI Act and the Copyright Directive.
01:34But, he argues, it's not enough.
01:36And this is why we also propose on the Culture Compass an AI strategy for the cultural and creative sectors to help transform the challenges that these sectors face into opportunities.
01:49And out there, there are genuine concerns in some of these sectors.
01:54The Culture Compass, which is not a legally binding instrument, is expected to be approved by all three EU institutions in 2026.
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