Cultural cooperation in the European Union has become a community competency since its inclusion in 1992 in the Maastricht Treaty.

Actions taken in the cultural area by the European Union include:

• The Culture 2000 7-year program.
• the European Capital of Culture program
• the European Cultural Month event
• the Media Plus program
• experimental actions and the awarding of various grants.

The European Union gave grants to 233 cultural projects in 2004.

The European Union has also launched a webportal dedicated to Europe and Culture, responding to the European Council's expressed desire to see the Commission and the member states "promote the networking of cultural information to enable all citizens to access European cultural content by the most advanced technological means."

See Also

• Sport in the European Union
• Culture of Europe