UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity

One hundred and forty eight countries voted in favour of UNESCO's Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions on 20 October. Only the US and Israel opposed it, with four countries (Australia, Nicaragua, Honduras and Liberia) abstaining. It now requires 30 countries to ratify the convention for it to take effect.

The Convention is the first of its kind in international relations, as it enshrines a consensus that the international community has never before reached on a variety of guiding principles and concepts related to cultural diversity and forms the basis of a new pillar of world governance in cultural matters. The Convention recognises the dual nature of cultural goods and services, which have both an economic and social value. It emphasizes the right of states to take measures in support of diverse cultural expressions. It will be on an equal footing with other international treaties.

According to the Commission, "the UNESCO Convention makes it possible to fill a legal vacuum in world governance by establishing a series of rights and obligations, at both national and international level, aimed at protecting and promoting cultural diversity", adding that "there is no objective nor effect to remove or exclude cultural goods and services from the WTO agreements".

As Jean Musitelli, a member of the international group of experts that drafted the convention, has stated, "a country will have the right to refuse to open its audiovisual and cinematographic market in the framework of international commercial negotiations. For the first time, vulnerable countries will have a mechanism to resist".

The US fears that the UNESCO convention on cultural diversity may be used by some member states to curb the flow of goods, services and ideas. However, countries such as Japan, India, Brazil, and Mexico, which are all strong in exports of their own national film, music, radio, books, television programming and other cultural goods, approved the convention's core notion, that these global 'products' are not simply merchandise, but expressions of cultural identity.

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For the uninitiated it is not clear at first sight, not even at first reading, that this agreement is closely related to what was earlier known as l'exception culturelle, the special status given to cultural goods and services in international trade negotiations. The text of the Convention does not suggest the formidable content that made world powers (mainly multinational corporations) try to prevent it from completion for years. It does not even contain the word "trade" or such indecencies as "quota". "Promote" occurs more often than "protect" (37 to 29). It will take long before one learns about the exact impact of the Convention, because of the lengthy process of ratification.

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Selected Questions

* How does the Community uphold the principle of cultural diversity?

Preserving and promoting cultural diversity are among the Community's founding principles. They are enshrined in the Treaty, under Article 151, and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, under Article 22.3.

Within the Union, Article 151 of the Treaty, which has enabled the development of cultural activities, notably through the Culture 2000 Programme, also requires the cultural dimension to be taken into consideration in other Community policies, such as industrial policy in the case of the MEDIA Plus Programme and the internal market policy (free movement of services) in the case of the "Television Without Frontiers" Directive.

This principle can also be applied to the external dimension of Community action. Article 151 calls upon the EC and its Member States to promote this model in their international relations, as a contribution to a world order based on sustainable development, peaceful coexistence and intercultural dialogue.

* Who negotiated the Convention on behalf of the European Union?

The European Community, through the European Commission and as per the mandate conferred by the Council in November 2004, negotiated alongside the Member States at UNESCO, with the incumbent Council Presidency (the three successive Presidencies being the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom) at the helm throughout the process. This classic modus operandi is used whenever the competences at stake in given international negotiations are shared between the Community and the Member States. The common positions expressed by either the Commission or the Presidency, depending on the subject under discussion, were fully coordinated throughout the negotiations.

The European Union was able to participate for the first time and speak with a single voice as a key player in the UNESCO negotiations.

* In what way is the text a new pillar of world governance?

The UNESCO Convention makes it possible to fill a legal vacuum in world governance by establishing a series of rights and obligations, at both national and international level, aimed at protecting and promoting cultural diversity.

The UNESCO Convention is a platform for debates and exchanges on cultural diversity at international level: it will allow the reality of cultural diversity in the world to be observed and closely monitored, and opinions, information and best practices to be exchanged between the parties. It will also be possible for the parties to coordinate and consult each other to promote the Convention's objectives in the other international bodies and to strengthen international cooperation.

* Does this Convention call into question the Community's and Member States' commitments to the World Trade Organisation?

The Convention does not call WTO commitments into question. There is no objective nor effect to remove or exclude cultural goods and services from the WTO agreements. The Convention recognises the specificity of cultural goods and services and legitimises domestic and international cultural policies.

The UNESCO Convention will not alter the WTO agreements (which is not possible anyway - only the Organisation's members can do this by following established procedures) but will require parties to consider the objectives of cultural diversity and the terms of the Convention when applying and interpreting their trade obligations, as well as negotiating their trade commitments. The Convention is therefore a considerable step forward in protecting and promoting cultural diversity at international level, including in trade negotiations.

* What are the next steps?