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

The authors reveal that all opportunities arising from the CARIFORUM-EU EPA provisions have not been fully exploited and that the Protocol on Cultural Cooperation has yet to be activated – especially those related to the movement of artists and co-productions in the audiovisual sector. Yet, the messages emanating from EU and CARIFORUM personalities also confirm an immense political will to increase efforts towards advocacy and operationalization. This study therefore also acts as a wake-up call for awareness raising. This is why the 2005 Convention Secretariat is currently working with the UNESCO Chair on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (Laval University, Quebec, Canada) to design a training module on preferential treatment in culture, for governmental officials, as well as trade negotiators, from developing countries. Collecting data and sharing information and best practices from around the world is more critical than ever, especially at a time when the increasing dematerialization of the creative sectors is making it very challenging to obtain accurate data on the trade flows of cultural goods and services. UNESCO, through its Global Report series “Re|Shaping Cultural Policies”, will continue to monitor progress and advances 5 . To do so, it has revised the framework for Quadrennial Periodic Reports (QPRs) that Parties to the 2005 Convention submit every four years: specifically, Parties will be asked to report on the ways in which cultural goods and services are provided a special status in trade and investment agreements – including through preferential treatment provisions - to which they are signatories or which are under negotiation, and provide information on the introduction of cultural clauses related to e-commerce and digital products. Determining impact is not an easy task. What were the expectations? Who is effectively engaged? How directly or indirectly are the impacts attributable to the implementation of an agreement?

5. The 2005 Convention’s monitoring framework, under the“Treaties and Agreements” section, comprises three means of verification covering: special status for cultural goods and services; cultural clauses related to e-commerce and digital products; and preferential treatment provisions.

7 Culture in the CARIFORUM-EU EPA