The Conclusions recently issued by the Council of the European Union, (see here) do not have force of law, but contain some very useful material, including recognition that:
• cultural heritage plays an important role in creating and enhancing social capital (paragraph 5)
• cultural heritage has an important economic impact (paragraph 6)
• cultural heritage plays a specific role in achieving the Europe 2020 strategy goals for a “smart, sustainable and inclusive growth” because it has social and economic impact and contributes to environmental sustainability (paragraph 7).
The latter reference is particularly timely given the current review of the Europe 2020 strategy and the Council invitation to the European Commission to ‘take into account, in the review of the Europe 2020 strategy, the contribution of cultural heritage in achieving the strategy's goals’(paragraph 27).
If you have any comments or questions with regard to this consultation (which closes on 14 October, 2014) please contact Tim Howard (tim.howard [at] archaeologists.net).
