The Ministry of Culture of Spain and the European Commission, in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona, are organising the European Forum on Cultural Industries, the foremost meeting foreseen by the Spanish presidency of the European Union in the field of culture. The Forum precedes the informal meeting of ministers of Culture of the European Union which will take place the following day, 31 March, in Barcelona.

Spain holds the presidency of the European Union in the first half of 2010, the first presidency to be exercised under the new rotating presidency trio system. Amongst the goals set by the Ministry of Culture are the promotion and support of cultural industries as agents of economic and social development and the achievement of the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy with a view to making the European Union in 2010 “the most competitive and the most dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth, with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion”. Within this framework, the European Commission is preparing the Green Paper on cultural and creative industries, the general lines of which will be presented at this meeting. For its part, the Official Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Navigation of Barcelona, within the frame of its task of defence of the business fabric and with an awareness of the importance of culture as a strategic factor of the future, also collaborates on this initiative.

The European Forum on Cultural Industries seeks to lend continuity to the International Conference on Economy and Culture held in Barcelona in May 2009 and organised by the Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona and the Ministry of Culture. The Conference was a first step towards helping to build the European agenda on competitiveness and creativity, with the aim to strengthen culture professionals and companies as catalysts of wealth, and to fortify the social perception of the role of cultural heritage, production and creation as driving forces of contemporary society.

The Forum is structured around five key lines of discussion:

• The financing of the cultural industries (financial intervention mechanisms, sustainability of SMEs).

• The professionals of the cultural industries (new skills derived from the digital mutation, training challenges, mobility of talent).

• Internationalisation (local production in global markets, internationalisation and cooperation strategies).

• Intellectual property and the management of rights.

• Territorial development (culture and territorial development, European local and regional development programmes).