From Competition to Cooperation in Promoting European Culture: The Council of Europe and the European Union since 1950

In some policy domains, the relationship between the Council of Europe and the EU (including its predecessors) has been very close, oscillating between cooperation and competition. This holds particularly true for fields in which the European Community (EC) originally lacked power and competences, such as cultural policy. This article analyses the evolution of the relationship between the two organizations in this policy domain which first moved from coexistence and punctual cooperation to outright competition, with the EC emerging as the more powerful actor. The Council of Europe, initially in a position of leadership in cultural policies in Western Europe, became the less important player. In recent decades, this asymmetrical relationship resulted in intensified cooperation, in which the EU was often formally in the lead and provided financial input, whereas the Council of Europe frequently contributed the necessary technical expertise. These inter-organizational dynamics are central to understanding the histories of both organizations in the field of European cultural policies.