ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the European Union's (EU) involvement in the field of cultural policy. Thinking about 'culture' and 'the European Union' brings to mind innumerable topics, from questions on European identity and citizenship to narrower questions concerning specific cultural programmes. The chapter investigates EU cultural policy from a governance perspective, reflecting a more general view that the study of cultural policy can benefit from more institutionally rigorous analysis. In the early 1980s, EU cultural ministers began meeting, first informally and then formally. Early cultural programmes, including the European Youth Orchestra and the European City of Culture were created, respectively, in 1976 and 1985. Member States maintain full autonomy over their own cultural policies: the introduction of a cultural competence was "not to establish a 'common' cultural policy but to bring to the forefront Community efforts rooted in the protection and promotion of Member States' diverse cultural systems".
