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

Key Findings

● ● The CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) is unprecedented in its link to the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005 Convention) and in its attempt to include culture in a trade agreement. ● ● The CARIFORUM-EU EPA is the first regional trade agreement that aims to implement Article 16 of the 2005 Convention on preferential treatment for developing countries, by including specific provisions for trade in cultural and entertainment services and by adding a dedicated Protocol on Cultural Cooperation (PCC). ● ● The CARIFORUM-EU EPA aims to facilitate market access and preferential conditions for Caribbean cultural goods, services and practitioners and represents a higher level of commitments by the European Union (EU) than in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). ● ● Despite the significant commitments undertaken by the EU, the EPA has not substantially improved market entry and export earnings for CARIFORUM States thus far, nor has it redressed the imbalance in the trade in cultural goods and services between the two parties. The expected increase in cultural exchange, contributing to an increased diversity of cultural expressions, remains unseen. ● ● No dedicated funding or cultural cooperation programmes have been put in place to implement the EPA’s cultural provisions. ● ● To improve market entry, both the EU and its Member States, as well as the participating CARIFORUM States must take decisive steps to mobilize creative industry actors in order to increase transparency and simplify procedures, particularly in cross-border mobility.

9 Culture in the CARIFORUM-EU EPA