The motto United by Diversity was proposed for the European Union by the Convention on the Future of Europe. Was this a pious hope, or an acknowledgment that the success of the “European Project” will be dependent on the effective engagement of the diverse cultures of the approximately 456 million people in the enlarged EU? Certainly a key problem the EU faces today is a cultural one, as recognized by European Commission president José Manuel Barroso when he observed that “Europe is not only about markets, it is about values and cultures.”
This book, based on issues raised in a series of seminars organized by the European Cultural Foundation UK, International Intelligence on Culture, and Chatham House, examines whether there is a common European culture; the values underpinning cultural policies; whether media concentration accelerates the loss of cultural diversity; whether European cultural cooperation has any impact on public perceptions and national stereotyping; and the implications of the emergence of English as the new “lingua franca.”