On 20 March 2025, the European Commission organised the first consultation with the civil society stakeholders on the upcoming Cultural Compass – the future overarching strategic framework for the Cultural and Creative Sectors in Europe. Gathering over 50 stakeholders from the cultural and creative sectors, the event was hosted by Glenn Micallef, Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, with the participation of Nela Riehl, Chair of the European Parliament’s CULT Committee and Marta Cienkowska, Undersecretary of State for Culture and National Heritage, the Polish presidency of the Council of the European Union.

©European Commission

The discussion centred on three key questions: What should be the guiding principles of the Compass? How to strengthen and enable the cultural sector to thrive? How to harness the creative and cross-sectoral power of culture for other EU policy areas?

All gathered stakeholders agreed on many common points: the unique strength of Europe’s well-established and diverse cultural ecosystem, the importance of unlocking Europe’s full creative potential, safeguarding artistic freedom and ensuring access to culture. The participants also acknowledged key contemporary challenges, including those specific to the sector, such as climate change and threat to cultural heritage, regulation of artificial intelligence, pressures on democracy and social challenges and working conditions of artists and cultural professionals. The need for sustainable funding for culture in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) was specifically highlighted.

ERRIN’s contribution to the meeting

ERRIN participated in this important conversation by bringing forth the voices of the regional and local stakeholders. Represented by Martina Hilger from Bremen as co-leader of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Working Group, ERRIN shared the insights from its work in the Culture and Creativity Cluster, which gathers members interested in the topics of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, Design and Creativity and the New European Bauhaus.

Although often very diverse in various aspects, ERRIN members share appreciation of the intrinsic value of culture but also emphasise its importance from the economic and innovation perspective. For the regional and local stakeholders, culture has a very important interconnection with other EU policies such as climate, CO2 reduction, tourism, and health, and as such, it should be incorporated into the next MFF accordingly. This cross-sectoral approach is also reflected in ERRIN’s own internal organisation of cluster topics and collaboration between different Working Groups across cluster silos. As demonstrated by the CHARTER project, in which ERRIN and six of its members piloted a regional cultural heritage ecosystem approach for skills development, the regional governance level is key for countering the further loss of traditional heritage skills and for untapping Europe’s culture full potential for the development, innovation and competitiveness of Europe’s regions. Continuous support for fostering cultural engagement for all and increased interconnectivity of regional ecosystems across Europe remains important. Read ERRIN's position paper: 'Connected regional innovation ecosystems – key for Europe’s competitiveness'

Over 50 stakeholders from the cultural and creative sectors were gathered at the event. ©European Commission

Next steps for the Culture Compass

The meeting on 20 March was the first in a series of consultations that will help shape the final version of the Cultural Compass throughout 2025.

While the Members of the European Parliament and the European Commission debated on the topic of European Cultural Compass as a driving force for economic competitiveness and resilience at the European Parliament session on 31 March, the EU Culture Ministers will discuss the topic at an informal meeting organised by the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU on 8 April in Warsaw.

Additionally, a call for evidence will be launched soon, allowing Member States, stakeholders and civil society to contribute to the Cultural Compass’s design.

Photo credit: ©European Commission

ERRIN’s Culture and Creativity Cluster actively monitors and engages with major EU priorities and strategies in the field of cultural heritage, tourism, creative industries and design, including the Horizon Europe Programme, its partnerships and the New European Bauhaus initiative. It gathers intelligence to support regions' roles in macro-regional strategies and interregional knowledge-sharing.