On 14 December, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the implementation of the New European Agenda for Culture and the EU Strategy for International Cultural Relations (2022/2047(INI)), that assesses the successes and challenges of EU cultural policies within and outside the EU and makes further recommendations for the future.

Among its various considerations, the text acknowledges the Santiago de Compostela Declaration (1987) and the establishment of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe (2010). It further highlights the great potential of Cultural Routes “to promote the values of the European Union, to strengthen its diverse identities and to help achieve its goals at global level, as well as to contribute to the solution of global challenges”.

The resolution further calls on the European Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS) to strengthen cooperation with the Council of Europe, including with regards to the Cultural Routes, “with a view to promoting the fundamental values of cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue and the sustainable territorial development of lesser-known destinations, while preserving, protecting and rehabilitating the cultural and natural heritage of these sites”.

The text is in line with a recommendation adopted earlier this year by the European Parliament in relation to the Renewed partnership with the Southern Neighbourhood – a new agenda for the Mediterranean.  Among its recommendations, it highlights the opportunity to enhance the preservation and promotion of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe in which the countries of the Southern Neighbourhood participate, including the Routes of El Legado Andalusi, the Aeneas Route, the Routes of the Olive Tree, the Iter Vitis Route and the Phoenician Route.

The European Parliament Intergroup on European cultural heritage, Ways of Saint-James and other European cultural routes, co-chaired by Mr. Francisco MILLÁN MON, Member of the European Parliament for Spain, is carrying very important work to raise awareness on the importance of Cultural Routes for European memory, identity and heritage.

The full text of the declaration is available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2022-0444_EN.html