Cultural rights and illicit trafficking of cultural goods are on the agenda of the informal meeting of European Union Culture Ministers, on Tuesday, at the Philoxenia Conference Centre, in Nicosia.
In statements upon her arrival at the Conference Centre, Deputy Minister of Culture, Vasiliki Kassianidou, said that ”for the Cyprus Presidency, Cyprus remains at the heart of the European project. It is for the sense of cohesion, for a sense of unity, but also for a sense of safety and democratic resilience,” she pointed out.
“The Cyprus Presidency has already had two great successes. In the meeting in Brussels, we approved the partial general approach for the Agora EU, the funding program for culture and civil society, which will run from 2028 to 2034,” Kassianidou noted.
“We have reached an agreement on the joint declaration that follows the culture compass. This joint declaration describes the strategy for culture for Europe, and it will be signed at the highest level from the President of the European Parliament, the President of the European Commission, and President Christodoulides on behalf of the Council,” she added.
Kassianidou said that EU Ministers would work on two very important issues today. “One is cultural rights, especially at the time of the development of artificial intelligence. Cultural rights is a theme that we worked on already in the MED-9 Presidency of Cyprus, and we follow on this discussion specifically about AI and how this affects the rights of artists,” the Cypriot Culture Deputy Minister pointed out.
“Furthermore, we will work on and discuss another important issue and this is the combat of illicit trafficking, an important, equally important issue for Cyprus, which has suffered from looting, especially after the illegal invasion of Turkey,” she noted.
Glenn Micallef, European Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, said that the common thread between the illicit trafficking of cultural heritage and cultural goods and safeguarding cultural rights in the digital age “is the value we attach to cultural heritage, which is our shared heritage, and the value of human creativity.”
He also noted that the discussions taking place in the meeting are hosted in Cyprus, “a place where cultures have met for thousands of years and this provides us the perfect backdrop for these exchanges.”
Nela Riehl, MEP, Chair of the Committee of Culture and Education, said that “there’s a lot we need to discuss, such things as AI, of course, as cultural heritage, but also illicit trafficking.” This, she added, “comes very timely because we see as a European Parliament that AI is a threat to everything people create.”
“Nowadays people cannot distinguish anymore if something created by AI or by human beings. We need to protect everything created by human beings, but at the same time we need to embrace innovation. We do want to have AI here, we do want to have it as a tool in the hands of artists, so that’s the balance we need to on cultural heritage,” she stressed.
Riehl also said that “it’s not just a matter of cultural policy but also a matter of security and defence because if you erase cultural heritage, if you take away subjects or objects, then you erase a whole identity question.” She went on to say that “we together need to commonly actually take a stance as the European Union to really make an effort and not just treat due diligence as a box-taking exercise.”
Lina Mendoni, Minister of Culture of Greece, stated that ‘during these months of the Cyprus Presidency, very important steps were taken on serious cultural issues that concerned and concern all member states.’
At the same time, she pointed out that ‘Cyprus managed to significantly advance the main financial instrument for culture in the European Union, Agora’. Mendoni thanked the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, and Kassianidou, ‘for the warm hospitality, but above all for the progress that was made in the crucial sector of culture for European standards this semester.’
On her part, Vaida Aleknaviciene, Minister of Culture of Lithuania, said that “both discussion questions today address an important common question for everyone.” “That’s how new technologies support creativity, cultural resilience and cultural heritage protection rather than weaken them,” she pointed out.
“Artificial intelligence and digital technologies create important opportunities from increasing access to culture to strengthening cultural heritage monitoring and protection,” she added. ”These questions also raise other important questions. related to transparency, artistic rights, fair remuneration and the importance of smaller languages and cultures within digital environment,” Aleknaviciene noted.
“That’s why it is essential to ensure that innovations develop within balanced, trustworthy and human-oriented framework. Artificial intelligence can support and enhance human creativity, but it cannot replace human creation and imagination,” she emphasised.
Charlie McConalogue, Minister of State at the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport of Ireland, said that Ireland is looking forward to taking on the presidency next, adding that ”particularly good progress was made over the last period of time in relation to the agreement of the Agora budget for culture and media and civil society. We now look forward to working with the Presidency in terms of the trilateral negotiations to step that forward,” he pointed out.
“During our six months of presidency we are looking forward as well to agreeing a work plan for EU culture which will be particularly important,” he noted, expressing gratitude for ”the wonderful work that has been done by the Cypriot Presidency over the last six months.”
Nina Obuljen Koržinek, Minister of Culture of Croatia, said that ”we will have a very timely discussion, especially in the context of rising concerns on culture rights, in the context of the rise of populism across Europe, but also the development of the artificial intelligence.”
Referring to illicit trafficking of cultural goods, she pointed out that ”both Cyprus and Croatia have examples from the recent history, unfortunately,”, adding that the two Ministers will share these examples with their counterparts on both discussions.