The Effects of EU Interventions in the Cultural Field on the Respect, the Protection and the Promotion of the Right to Participate in Cultural Life

Taking into account the general context of relationships between EU and culture and the international definition of the right to participate in cultural life, the article seeks to determine the effects of European interventions in the cultural field on the respect, the protection and the promotion of the latter right. It first shows the effects of European law on the formal recognition of the right to participate in cultural life, a right that has been neglected in the European human right framework. Second it highlights that the respect, protection and promotion of the right to participate in cultural life within EU law are obstructed by the asymmetry that exists on the European level favouring, on the one hand, non-political decision-making over political processes, and, on the other hand, negative on positive integration – weakens national cultural policies without allowing space for specific European policies of positive integration. Two possible paths for a better implementation of that human right are analysed in the last par