The Cultural Dilemma: the EU and its Cultural Competence Viewed from an International Trade Perspective
The Cultural Dilemma: the EU and its Cultural Competence Viewed from an International Trade Perspective

Summary/Abstract: Culture surrounds us like nature. It is part of how we are born and buried. We feel it, breathe it, and suck it in. We listen to it, see it, talk about it and project it as we talk. We consume it. We give a culture to everything: a nation’s culture, European culture, the American way of life, business culture, community culture, agriculture etc. The international trade of cultural goods has increased dramatically in the last two decades. On the other hand, culture as merchandise, is somehow different. Among this many understandings of culture, is there one that prevails, a common understanding perhaps? At first, the current article aims to unfold how the EU has approached the issue of culture. How the balance between the trading value of culture and its nation-building role has dominated the EU discourse. It also means to point out the controversy that lays in the EU’s limited competence to influence the cultural policies at Member State level yet, the powers it possesses to safeguard competition. In the next part of the article we explore the culture-related cases of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to point out the principles of legal interpretation of the culture clause the Treaty of Maastricht has incorporated. Expanding our scope, we then look at trading culture from an international perspective (WTO, UNESCO) hoping to pinpoint tendencies in dealing with the delicate balance between the culture and the trade perspective.

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