The spirit of Europe in museums

Recommendation 1574 (2002)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 3 September 2002 (see Doc. 9503, report of the Committee on Culture, Science and Education, rapporteur: Mr Valk).

Thesaurus

1. The European museum award scheme has now been run for some twenty-five years under the auspices of the Council of Europe by the independent European Museum Forum.

2. Each year the Parliamentary Assembly has awarded the Council of Europe Museum Prize as its contribution to the scheme. This award is made to a museum judged to have made a notable contribution to the understanding of the European heritage.

3. The European Museum Forum also organises a series of other activities, including annual lectures, workshops and seminars. These have been largely based on the expanding network of new museums involved in the award scheme and have become an increasingly important part of the contribution it is making to the development of museum thinking in Europe. This is particularly focused on the relations between museums and their public.

4. The workshops held in Bertinoro and Monsummano in Italy, in 2000 and 2001 have been devoted to the theme of “the spirit of Europe” in museums.

5. The Assembly:

welcomes its continuing co-operation with the European Museum Forum in the organisation of the European museum awards and related activities;

invites the Committee of Ministers to play a more active role in the development of museum co-operation in Europe, for example by initiating a feasibility study on the concept of a Museum of Europe.