madam president allow me first of all to thank you for the opportunity on behalf of commissioner <unk> to address the place of culture in our policies and its particular contribution to the development of european regions and cities
the importance of culture is taken into consideration in different ways at community level
in the context of the eu's cohesion policy regional and local strategies have successfully integrated culture to support creativity and to promote innovation
cohesion policy supports for instance the protection of our cultural heritage the development of cultural infrastructure and services the development of regional attractiveness and its link with sustainable tourism but also the regeneration of local economies and the development of cross-border strategies
in two thousand and seven the commission launched the european agenda for culture which is now in its first stages of implementation
this new strategic approach to culture sets common objectives and aims to propel the economic social and political value of culture by strengthening its transversal role
in this framework the commission and the member states are cooperating under a new open method of cooperation to strengthen joint efforts in areas with a direct impact on local and regional development strategies
this will for instance help maximise the potential of creative and cultural industries in particular smes promote access to culture and encourage the mobility of cultural professionals
feeding into the ongoing reflection the commission will soon launch an independent study on the contribution of culture to local and regional economic development as part of the european regional policy
the results of this study will help underline the value of investing in the cultural and creative sectors and will illustrate the links between such investment specific regional development objectives and the lisbon agenda for growth and jobs
the study will also contribute to the preparation of a green paper on the potential of cultural and creative industries which is currently under preparation and is due for adoption by the commission in early twenty ten
the commission regularly organises conferences with representatives from local and regional authorities
let me simply highlight the open days which every year bring together in brussels a large number of stakeholders to debate a wide range of issues relating to regional and cohesion policy
aspects relating to culture have been regularly considered in the context of these workshops
moreover within the context of other european policies such as the eu's integrated maritime policy the commission also endeavours to involve civil society actors in highlighting europe's rich maritime heritage
thus next may during the european maritime day celebrations in rome stakeholders will examine the links between maritime heritage and sustainable regional tourism amongst others
finally i also wish to mention the european cultural forum which will be organised for the first time by the commission in the context of the european agenda for culture in brussels on twenty-nine and thirty september and will bring together representatives of the cultural sector and national authorities including local and regional authorities
