Meeting of the Minister Delegate for European Affairs, Ms. Claudie Haigneré, with 11 European culture professionals

Statements by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson
(excerpts)
(Paris, December 3, 2004)

The Minister Delegate for European Affairs, Ms. Claudie Haigneré, is meeting 11 European culture professionals selected through the "Cultural Industries in Europe" program.
This program is part of "Courants du Monde," an exchange and training program established by the Culture and Communication Ministry and the Maison des Cultures du Monde in collaboration with the Foreign Ministry. Conceived in partnership with the British association Visiting Arts, this bilingual internship is designed to highlight the political and strategic stakes of cultural industries, to familiarize European partners with the problems of cultural diversity and to strengthen ties among French and European leaders in the area of cultural industries.
This meeting will constitute the closing session of the first edition of this two-week bilingual program, launched as part of the centennial of the Entente Cordiale. It was open to culture professionals from EU member countries and candidate countries with responsibilities in public or private organizations. It featured a study trip to Great Britain.
This program is an important part of the European component of our cultural policy as set forth in the Memorandum of Franco-British Cooperation and relating to cultural management vis-à-vis third countries.