WHY A EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF CULTURE IS NECESSARY

By Vangelis KASSOS*

The idea of a dialogue between the European culture considered as a whole and the non-European cultures was proposed by Denis de Rougemont (1906-1985), but the idea of a dialogue between the national cultures of Europe was officially proposed by Greece – through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – to the European Union. It was handed to the Intergovernmental Conference responsible for revising the Maastricht Treaty in September, 1996. In this second version, the idea of a dialogue between the national cultures of Europe gained momentum two years later, when it was placed at the top of the list of the European Union’s cultural programme (2000-2004) under the title “Culture 2000,” which still applies. As regards my own share in the current cultural dialogue, this, I feel, will be useful, in that it will help explain the reasoning behind the Greek proposal to the European Union, and on the basis of this reasoning, point out to any deviations from the initial idea. In 1995, when I was invited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to assist in the drafting of a memorandum on European cultural policy with intent to submit it to the Intergovernmental Conference in 1996, I suggested that two were the points that need be considered. The first point is the stand that the European Union should take on the theory concerning the “clash of civilizations,” as developed by Samuel Huntington two years earlier in the magazine Foreign Affairs. It goes without saying that this stand would not constitute a direct reply. However, since the Maastricht Treaty had made culture into law, while also designating as one of the European Union’s main goals the establishment of its identity on the international scene ( Article B of the Common Provisions), the European Union was duty-bound to seek an indirect way by which to establish its position as a separate international cultural entity, ready to cooperate with