Impact Study: UNESCO-Aschberg Programme for Artists and Cultural Professionals

Building on the European Union’s institutional landscape The EU institution primarily responsible for the implementation of any trade agreement is the European Commission, which is the executive branch of the European Union and seeks to promote the EU’s general interest through activities in all areas of social life. Trade is an important part of this and as of the 2009 Treaty of Lisbon, the EU has comprehensive competence in EU external trade relations. The European Commission’s Directorate-General (DG) Trade, which is the EU’s “trade department”, is actively involved in negotiating new agreements of different nature (from customs unions to far-reaching partnership treaties, such as the EPA), and in monitoring their implementation, including all commitments under the agreements. DG Trade is not, however, the only one involved. DG Trade works with others, such as DG DEVCO (Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development), DG Connect and DG EAC on broader trade-related issues covered by the EPA. The latter is particularly important, as it oversees all cultural matters; the role of DG DEVCO is also key as it manages the European Development Fund (EDF) and finances the ACP Cultures + programme, which provides grants to the 79 ACP countries for the production of diverse cultural works and their distribution in local and international markets. From 2012 to 2017, 61% of the Programme budget subsidized the film and broadcasting sectors and 39%went to other sectors, such as theatre, music, dance, literature, design, fashion, crafts and cultural tourism 16 .

Many of the difficulties in making good use of the existing EPA cultural provisions relate to either visa or co-production funding issues, which fall under the authority of the EUMember States

29 Culture in the CARIFORUM-EU EPA

16. See European Union quadrennial periodic report on the implementation of the 2005 Convention at https://en.unesco.org/creativity/governance/periodic-reports/2017/eu.