The conference in Göteborg on 29-30 July concluded with a panel discussion on the theme: ‘Promoting a creative generation – does the EU have a role to play?’ and a speech by Henrik Selin, Counsellor for Cultural Affairs at the Permanent Representation of Sweden to the EU in Brussels.

Henrik Selin is the civil servant who chairs the meetings in the Council working groups on culture and media during the Swedish Presidency. In his closing speech, Mr Selin described the ongoing work in the EU. Henrik Selin will present draft conclusions to the working group in September. In November, the EU culture ministers will meet in Brussels and until then work will continue on the conclusions from the ministerial meeting that took place last November.

“The Swedish Presidency wanted this conference to take place before work commences in the autumn, ahead of the ministerial meeting in November.”

The Council conclusions from the ministerial meetings always contain certain key messages and recommendations, for the Member States as well as for the European Commission.

”Now we have to focus and prioritise the issues that we are to concentrate on. We must also recognise that the EU is multifaceted, with Member States that differ greatly from each other. We must also understand that conditions vary from country to country. We believe in continued exchange of experiences and good examples. Our main ambition is to contribute to the promotion of a creative generation, children and young people in the new culture and media landscape, emphasising the importance of culture in this context.”

Henrik Selin concluded by saying that he hoped that, in the upcoming Council conclusions, the participants at the conference would recognise the reasoning and the ideas that were the result of the discussions held at the conference.

Taking part in the panel discussion:

• Xavier Troussard, Head of the Unit for Culture, Policy and Intercultural Dialogue at the European Commission
• Aviva Silver, Head of the MEDIA Unit, responsible for media literacy issues
• Raya Ribbius, European Cultural Foundation, one of Europe’s leading cultural foundations
• Jean-Marc Lauret, Head of Department at the French Ministry of Culture
• AnnaMaria Laaksonen, Project Coordinator, Interarts Foundation in Barcelona
• Moderator was Katti Hoflin of Kulturhuset, Stockholm.

The film ’365 saker’, about 365 things you can do, was screened during the conference. You can watch the film, the panel discussion and the closing speech in the media player above.