The Berlin Conference 2004
From 26 to 27 November 2004, the first Berlin Conference "A Soul for Europe" with 600 participants took place in the Dresdner Bank next to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
The first Berlin Conference brought together members and officials of the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe and several national parliaments and governments of the EU and beyond, together with representatives of civil, business and artistic society, including a wide range of young participants from countries that are not yet members of the European Union.
The Conference - by bringing together the political, cultural and administrative leaders of Europe - initiated a process for placing sustainable cultural growth at the heart of the European project "a structural element of our unity", in the words of Commission President Jose-Manuel Barroso. "In the hierarchy of values", he said, "the cultural ones range above the economic ones." He noted, "the timing of this conference is perfect... The questions of what Europe can do for culture, and what culture can do for Europe, are not new. But in this context they have acquired a new sense of urgency... What is needed now is sustainability of action - the translation of good intentions into good decisions."
See the video!
Creating a European public sphere: Timothy Garton Ash calls for pan-European media to have international debates about topics, which affect everyone in Europe. See the video!
“One does not become a German. As a migrant, one remains an Iranian, a Turk, an Arab, even in the second and third generation. However, one can become a European”, said the German writer Navid Kermani with Iranian origins. “One can declare oneself a European, because Europe is a community of will and not the name of a religion or an ethnicity.” See the video!
What can film do for the soul of Europe? Oscar-prize winning film director István Szabó explains, how films contribute to the intercultural dialogue. See the video!
Construction Site Europe: Oana Radu, programme director of the Ecumest Association in Bucharest describes the European Union seen by the countries in Eastern Europe. See the video!
DISCOVER the video documentation and the photo gallery of the Berlin Conference 2004!
