On March 20, the European Commission took a key step toward shaping the future of EU cultural policy by launching the first civil-society consultation on the upcoming Culture Compass, the Commission’s proposed guiding framework for the cultural and creative sectors across Europe.

Hosted by Commissioner Glenn Micallef, the event gathered over 50 stakeholders from the cultural and creative sectors, including the European Parliament’s CULT Committee Chair, Nela Riehl, and Marta Cienkowska from the Polish Presidency of the Council.

Michael Culture Association (MCA) was proud to represent the voice of digital heritage professionals, researchers, and institutions in this crucial conversation.

The Culture Compass is meant to be an overarching strategic framework to guide and harness the multiple dimensions of culture. The work just started to draft this policy document: this was the first consultation meeting.

MCA is following the subject since the beginning – access here a debrief of previous conversations about the Culture Compass during the annual Policy Conversation from Cultural deal for Europe.

The key questions of the day were 3:

• What should be the guiding principles of this Compass?
• What does the cultural sector needs to thrive?
• In which other EU policy areas culture the power of culture can be beneficial?

Each speaker had 3 minutes to speak: before allowing a second round of interventions, all organisations were given the opportunity to speak at least once. In this sense, the day was organised in an optimal manner, ensuring broad representation from across the sector. The amount of information shared and the strong desire to contribute that could be felt in the room clearly demonstrated the need for such spaces of dialogue.  The excellent outcome of the day gives us hope for future meetings on the topic with the Commission, allowing the drafting of the Culture Compass to become a shining example of a consultative process.

What Commissioner Micallef and the Polish Presidency Stressed

Commissioner Micallef (that we presented you in this article) opened the consultation by declaring that culture is Europe’s strategic asset: a driver of identity, democracy, and resilience. He outlined three pillars for the Culture Compass: defining shared cultural values, unlocking Europe’s creative potential, and responding to contemporary challenges, including digital disruption and the rise of misinformation. Micallef stressed the importance of safeguarding artistic freedom and ensuring access to culture, especially for younger generations. The Commissioner attended the whole meeting, being involved in all discussions and showing openness to listen to the voices of the sector.

Marta Cienkowska, Polish Deputy-Ministry of Culture & Heritage, representing the Polish Presidency of the Council, echoed this urgency. As both a policymaker and long-time NGO advocate, she made an emotional call to treat culture as Europe’s “heart,” underlining its role in countering hate, preparing for demographic changes, and promoting inclusion. She advocated for concrete funding tools and called on civil society to unite and make its voice heard.

“Culture is one of the most important to fight for: we have to defend it the most because culture is our heart. This is the heart of Europe”

Marta Cienkowska, Polish Deputy-Ministry of Culture

What Michael Culture Advocated

MCA brought a unique and targeted contribution to the table, rooted in our experience at the crossroads of digital heritage, research, and innovation.

First and foremost, MCA called for a clear and unambiguous reference to cultural rights and freedom of expression, not limited to artists but extending to all cultural professionals and researchers in the field. This principle must be a cornerstone of the Compass, especially in a context where democratic values and cultural freedom are increasingly under threat.

We also emphasized the need to recognise culture, education, and research as interconnected pillars of democracy and security. In times of crisis and polarisation, these domains form the basis of informed citizenship, social cohesion, and resilience: they must be supported as strategic assets in the EU’s political vision.

We addressed the urgent necessity of a massive digitisation strategy for cultural and heritage content. Such a strategy would ensure that cultural data is accessible, reusable (within copyright limits), and protected. It is also essential for ethical Digital&AI development, the fight against bias and misrepresentation, and the long-term preservation of Europe’s diverse memory. The Culture Compass should make this a strategic investment priority in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

For a digital transformation that leaves no one behind, we highlighted that the needed digital upskilling in the cultural sector must include not only technical knowledge, but also training in ethical and societal dimensions of digitisation and AI. This should be addressed through Erasmus+, CERV, and Cohesion Funds to ensure equitable capacity-building across Europe.

Moreover, we advocated for investment in a European autonomous digital space, built on democratic and cultural values. This space must be safeguarded from disinformation, hate speech, and manipulation, recognising the digital environment as a cultural space in its own right.

Finally, MCA brought attention to the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural goods. We highlighted the importance of structured collaboration between heritage institutions, researchers, tech experts, and law enforcement, calling the Compass to create dedicated support and a cross-sectoral framework to tackle this issue effectively.

What Culture Action Europe proposed

Culture Action Europe (CAE) delivered a strong statement that resonated across the room. Their intervention clearly connected the role of culture to the EU’s current strategic priorities: democracy, security, and competitiveness.

CAE affirmed that the contribution of the Cultural Sectors in Europe to the EU ́s Competitiveness is
rooted in a value-based approach.

It is through Culture that each generation gives new and relevant meaning to our values. It is culture that fuels innovation in a very specific way, towards social innovation and sustainability. Culture offers a transformative power that makes us competitive, be it through arts-based research or participation in arts and culture.

Lars Ebert – Secretary General of Culture Action Europe

They reaffirmed that cultural participation directly enhances democracy and social cohesion. In doing so, they brought to the table an old friend of the cultural sector:  the concept of  cultural democracy, enhancing cultural participation and citizen engagement in cultural life. This includes, in the words of Luiza Moroz (Policy advisor, CAE) “youth initiatives, grassroots projects, socially engaged or community arts, cultural networks and platforms and other structures that help create European cultural content and engage with it”.

CAE advocated for the promotion of European cultural content as a strategic defence against disinformation, hybrid threats, and psychological warfare from authoritarian regimes. Finally, with the motto “Ask the artist, pay the artist, trust the artist”, they recentered the focus on giving the tools to those in the sector to thrive. The recommendation to integrate artistic freedom into the Rule of Law report to monitor freedom of expression and autonomy of cultural organisations was echoed in the room. 

MCA supported this statement and reiterated these ideas when taking the floor.

What Comes Next?

The consultation marks only the beginning of a broader process. Commissioner Micallef confirmed that targeted consultations, online surveys open to citizens, and thematic meetings will follow throughout 2025 – the document is expected to be ready early 2026.

“The Culture Compass is a campaign for Europe. […] We need a campaign to show people what this union is about and what the values that defines it”

European Commissioner Glenn Micallef

Michael Culture’s contribution helped anchor key strategic issues often overlooked in the cultural policy debate: the need for digital autonomy, interdisciplinary cooperation, and investment in digitisation. As a network that connects cultural institutions, digital experts, researchers, and policymakers, we brought a nuanced perspective rooted in field experience.

As the Commission steps in to new territories with this Compass, MCA will continue advocating for a cultural policy framework that is bold, inclusive, and democratic for the sectors of culture, innovation and research.