On December 18th 2006, 13 European States (Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden) ratified, together with the European Community, the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
This significant deed sees a number of 35 countries having now formally ratified the Convention.
The Convention on cultural diversity will officially come into force on March 18th, 2007 that is three months after registration of the 30th ratification instrument as specified in the text of the Convention.
The ten European coalitions for cultural diversity (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Slovakia Spain and Switzerland) together with 26 other national coalitions world wide, have been fighting for close to 5 years to make this Convention a reality and to see internationally recognised the legitimate right of each state to adopt and implement the cultural policies they deem necessary in their own territory.
The European Coalitions pay tribute to the work accomplished by the European Union on this issue.
They are now inviting governments of the most advanced countries to contribute to the Fund for Cultural Diversity specially designed by the Convention to support developing cultural industries in less advanced countries.
The European Coalitions for cultural diversity are members of the International Liaison Committee of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity that groups together 36 coalitions worldwide (Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Brésil, Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Ivory Coast, Ecuador, France, Germany, Guinea, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Mali, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Niger, Paraguay, Peru, Senegal, Spain, Slovakia, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia, Uruguay and Venezuela).