The bureaucratic time and the artist time are not the same: bureaucracy is tempted to give answers, whereas artists are looking at the complexity of what reality is.

Former Culture Minister of Romania

A visa policy is led by the Ministry of the Interior and not by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, which is usually more open and relaxed on this matter. The Ministry of the Interior is much more focused on security issues and sees visas as a tool to regulate entry on its territory.

DG Home, Deputy Head of Unit of Visa, European Commission

They – the rest of the world – think Europe is a sort of economic entity. Therefore we have to become political, we have to become more cultural. Because I do not want to sell Europe as an import-export club.

EEAS, Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Korea

This debate on Europe (…) is taking place with young people. Are they not more connected to the local, and the global through digital information?

Regional Director, East Asia Arts & Creative Industries, British Council

The uniqueness of this project is that we are trying to respect diversity, implementing solidarity, to cooperate and to create a political experiment. I see the major role of the EU as an enabler in this process, on top of what the Member States may do, not as an entity which should capture one image, frame it and say this is European culture.

Head of Unit DG, Joint Research Centre

We should concentrate first on having the basic rights on where the European Union can do things, where the Member States are absolutely unable to do things on their own. And then we can prove our value and build from that.

Head of HR Advice, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs

We need to build things about how we go, about understanding how we position ourselves, how we engage, how we converse, through culture, through the economy (…). How can you have a dialogue with somebody if you cannot really think about what collaboration looks like?

Expert in Creative Economy - Director, Andrew Senior Associated Ltd.

I would like to see what more Europe could actually mean. For example through more political leadership to help facilitate smart EU policies and dealing with culture and EU’s external actions. I would like to see a European University on Tahrir square in Cairo and not just an American university. I would like to see more visas for artists and other professionals to come to work in Europe. I would like to see more content and heritage uploaded on Europeana. I would like to see less bureaucracy for small cultural organisations when they are applying for a grant on the European level. I would like also to see less fragmentation on copyright management of the European Union. And I would like to see less over-emphasis on the economic value of culture.

Member of the European Parliament

If we believe that Europe has a role to play in the political domain, in the domain of sustainability, in the domain of climate control and all these things, then it would be crazy to ignore the cultural dimension as a the part of that larger whole. And even if European culture is little more than the sum of national cultures, it is a bloody interesting combination of national cultures!

Member of the Dutch Senate

If we have an economic pillar, we have a political and a cultural pillar and society seems to be healthy if those three are in balance. We are way outbalanced now: the economic pillar is far too strong for the political pillar, for the ideological argument, but also for the cultural pillar.

Director of the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven

Diversity currently is considered a weak point in all fields of EU politics – with the exception of culture. Instead of confessing weakness a European Foreign Cultural policy can communicate strength.

Director & Founding Partner of MLA+

If we believe that Europe has a role to play in the political domain, in the domain of sustainability, in the domain of climate control and all these things, then it would be crazy to ignore the cultural dimension as a part of that larger whole. And even if European culture is little more than the sum of national cultures, it is a bloody interesting combination of national cultures!

Artistic Advisor, Member of advisory committee for the performing arts of the Ministry of Culture, Denmark.

The Nation State as such is totally a construction: what we feel for it in terms of habits, traditions, countryside or nature could exist without the notion of Nation.

Writer, Former UN & EU Official

What we are looking for is shared objectives, joint thinking, strength in intersections – not necessarily something that is common to all Europeans.

Former Director, European Cultural Foundation

There is a need for the EU’s actions in culture to genuinely reflect the diversity of the population, the ethnic composition of Europe.

Director, International Intelligence on Culture

I think MORE EUROPE is exactly what we want, where we should be going. But how on earth are we going to do that?

Director of UrKultur, International Arts Consultancy

Je crois qu’on ne fera jamais fi de nos intérêts nationaux mais que la conviction profonde de tous ceux engagés dans la coopération transnationale est que nous serons plus forts ensemble qu’avec l’addition des actions individuelles.

Ambassador, Permanent Representative of France to FAO, WFP and IFAD

Nous sommes encore très tributaires d’enjeux nationaux et si nous n’allons pas vers une révolution copernicienne de la représentation européenne hors de ses frontières, alors nous n’arriverons à rien !

Advisor to the French Embassy in Spain

Europe is reluctant to sanction cultural activities [e.g.the use of satellites by governmental media] because it could be seen as a new form of censorship, contrary to the principle of free communication Europe defends. Cultural sanctions against business operators may also imply legal constraints that the EU is not always able to overcome, as it wants to abide by the rule of law.

Vice-Chairman, Management Board of Arte

We, Europeans, undoubtedly are examples, for the very simple reason that we claim this role for ourselves. However, how well do we live up to it? Europe is capable of self-criticism, and probably it is the only continent where you find a self-critical approach. This is why European cultural policy has to have an open attitude in the view of the world and must be full of self-criticism, in a world that is no longer capable of self-criticism.

Writer

Europe clearly is the only place where people can speak up critically, and this is a unique cultural value.

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2003

Europeans talk a great deal about each other but rarely with one another. Most attempts to create pan-European media have failed. There is a dearth of EU news coverage.

Former President, EUNIC Global

Europe needs more capacity, visibility, more results in democracy building and strong impact in civil society. We need a joined up vision and strategy matched with some form of European cooperation. That is why we need More Europe in external relations.

Former Austrian Diplomat

Foreign policy is about trying to project the European model, its values, its principles, to the outside world. But at the moment, the European model is not as fascinating and as attractive as it may have been a few years ago. We have to be aware of this and take it into account when we try to promote our European system.

Former Exec Sec Gen, European External Action Service, French Diplomat

[External Cultural Relations] is about modest, humble attitude, not so much about diplomacy even in the modern form, but about cultural relations, about a new habit of listening.

Former director of the European Cultural Foundation, Cultural consultant

There is no debate whether we need a cultural policy or not. We do need it, but there are different ways of doing it.

Researcher, Journalist & Writer

[European dominance in the field of culture] is an illusion, many people outside Europe are not particularly interested in becoming like us, they are not that attracted to us as they might have been 30 years ago.

Prof Cultural Policy Studies, American University of Paris