merrion street

Thursday 16th May, 2013 Jimmy Deenihan TD Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht will chair the EU Education, Youth, Culture and Sports Council meeting in Brussels tomorrow morning.  As chair of the meeting, the Minister's role will be to advance the agenda of the culture element of the Council. 

A report on the progress of the Creative Europe Programme, which has the twin objectives of promoting cultural diversity and creativity and contributing to economic growth and employment under Europe 2020, will be provided today. Overall solid progress has been made with the Parliament under the Irish Presidency but the outcome of the MFF negotiations is awaited before it can be finalised.

Speaking ahead of the conference, Minister Deenihan said "The theme of the Irish presidency is stability, jobs and growth.  It is important to remember that the culture and creative sectors are sectors that can contribute significantly to the achievement of this objective.  Some 8.5m people are employed across Europe in the cultural and creative sector generating 4% of the EU's GDP."

A key objective of the Minister at the Council will be to secure a general approach on the European Capitals of Culture 2020-2033. This programme has been in place now for over 25 years and in that time has witnessed considerable change - social, economic, technological and cultural. 

"As Chair I will be seeking agreement of the Council’s position on a programme that is adaptable to its times. I am keen to agree the new European Capitals of Culture for this period as Ireland is scheduled to host the Capitals of Culture in 2020 – the First Year of the new programme." added Minister Deenihan.