European Ministers of Culture Sign Joint Declaration on Culture, Media, and Democratic Resilience

On 4 November, Ministers of Culture and senior representatives from Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom signed a joint Declaration on the Necessity of Culture and Media as a Safeguard for our European Democracies. The declaration reaffirms the vital role of culture, cultural heritage, and independent media in protecting European values and democratic resilience. It calls for cultural diversity, artistic freedom, and media pluralism to be upheld as integral parts of European collaboration and security policy. 

The ministers stressed that trustworthy information and media literacy are essential to prevent the erosion of public trust and to protect societies from manipulation and disinformation, particularly in the age of artificial intelligence. The text also highlights ethical and societal concerns arising from AI’s role in producing and distributing cultural and media content, underscoring the need to safeguard the authenticity of cultural expression and citizens’ personal characteristics. The declaration’s guiding principles emphasise citizens’ rights to free cultural life, access to reliable information, independent media, and protection from unauthorised digital replicas.

The Ministers jointly agreed on seven guiding principles:

1. Citizens must live in societies with free and independent cultural life.
2. Citizens must live in societies where culture and cultural heritage is safeguarded for the benefit of society today and for future generations.
3. Citizens must have access to reliable information and to an information environment free of foreign interference.
4. Citizens must live in societies with free, resilient and independent media.
5. Citizens must be able to participate in public debate and democratic conversations.
6. Citizens – especially our children - must be presented with and have access to free and diverse European content.
7. Citizens must be protected against digital replicas of their personal characteristics without consent.

The full text of the declaration is available on the website of the Danish presidency of the Council of the European Union.