All EU countries except Hungary endorsed the new declaration setting culture and independent media as cornerstones safeguarding European democracies. Culture ministers committed to upholding cultural diversity, artistic freedom and supporting media pluralism and freedom, including against AI-related and foreign interference challenges.
By Eirini PolydorouInitiated by the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU 2025, the new declaration sets culture, independent media and European content as crucial defenses for European democracies to remain strong against misinformation, foreign influence, and division attempts.
“Culture plays an enormously important role as a defence/safeguard against those who seek to divide us. With this declaration, we are sending a clear signal that culture, trustworthy media, and European values are absolutely essential in a challenging time for Europe.” said Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt.
Minister's Engel-Schmidt words that “Europe is under attack” affirm the ideas expressed earlier this year by President Ursula von der Leyen, saying in her speech on the State of the Union, that “Europe is in a fight [...] for a free and independent Europe [...] for our values and our democracies”.
The joint text was endorsed at the informal ministerial meeting at Forum Copenhagen by 26 out of the 27 EU member states, as well as the UK, Ukraine, Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland. Hungary did not endorse the declaration.
The declaration includes guiding principles that Ministers committed to upholding at both the national and the European level. Aiming at supporting European youth, the principles include free and independent culture for today and for future generations and access to free and diverse European content, especially for children.
To strengthen democracy and public spaces, the principles include enabling citizens’ participation in public debate and democratic conversations and ensuring protection against digital replicas of citizens’ personal characteristics without consent.
AI challenges Reality and as such, Democracy
With a focus on the AI environment, the Ministers highlight the ethical, societal and economic aspects raised due to the use of AI in producing and distributing cultural and media content. They highlight AI-related challenges such as “distinguishing between authentic and AI-generated or manipulated material online, creating uncertainty about authorship, intellectual property and accountability”. Against digital manipulations of true representations of reality, they consider as paramount the protection of the integrity of cultural expression and the personal characteristics of citizens.
They highlight the links between shared cultural heritage, memory and European identity and unity and consider “the protection and promotion of our cultures and cultural heritage [...] as an integral part of European security policy”.
Recognising all aspects of tangible, intangible and digital cultural heritage, the text links “our diverse histories and common democratic life, ensuring that citizens can hold institutions accountable and that our societies are grounded in reliable facts”.
The Ministers recognise free, independent and diverse media as crucial to fostering a thriving civic sphere, for safeguarding democracy and fundamental rights and for preventing the erosion of trust in our democracies and each other.
In this respect the Ministers acknowledge the need to strengthen citizens’ media literacy, digital skills and critical thinking abilities.
Among their guiding principles the Ministers include ensuring citizens’ access to reliable information and to an information environment free of foreign interference.
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Image by Alexander Jungmann from Pixabay - Free for use under the Pixabay Content License
Images: Courtesy of the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU 2025
