Spain is a member of the European Union since 1986. The Sub Directorate-General for Cultural Cooperation and Promotion Abroad of the Ministry performs the following tasks: coordination and follow-up of the actions of the Ministry related to the European Union and to other agencies and international authorities in the field of culture; participation in the elaboration of treaties, conventions and programmes of international cooperation (of bilateral or multilateral character) in those fields that affect the Ministry; and advice on Spanish participation in international organisations.
Spain participates actively in the Creative Europe (2014-2020) and Horizon 2020 Programmes. Spain is also an eligible country for the EEA-Grants in cultural and natural heritage, and diversity in culture and arts.
Regarding the Council of Europe, of which Spain has been a member since 1977, the Sub Directorate-General of International Cooperation, in conjunction with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, is also responsible for the follow-up and organisation of Spain’s participation in the events that the Council of Europe sponsors, either directly or indirectly. Spain joined the Faro Convention in December 2018.
Spanish institutions participate in 22 designated Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe: The Ways of Santiago de Compostela, Vikings and Normands, The Andalusian Legacy, The Phoenicians Route, The Iron Route of the Pyrenees, The European Routes of Jew Heritage, San Martín de Tours, The Sites of Cluny Network, the Routes of the Olive Tree, the Vía Regia, Transrománica, Iter Vitis, The Cister European Route, the European Route of Cemeteries, The Route of Prehistoric Rock Art Trail, Thermal Heritage, Casa Dei, The European Route of Ceramics, Megalithic Route, Art Nouveau Network, The Routes of Charles V, and Destination Napoleon.
Spain’s cultural cooperation with UNESCO, the Organisation of Education, Science and Culture, of which Spain has been a member since 1953, involves the following tasks: coordination and liaison between the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, the Spanish Embassy at UNESCO and UNESCO itself, with regard to the development of UNESCO’s Conventions and Recommendations; preparation of the participation of the Ministry in the General Conference and the Inter-governmental Conferences, expert committees and other meetings at UNESCO; coordination and liaison between the National Cooperation Commission and UNESCO, and participation in, and follow-up and dissemination of, UNESCO’s activities. The Ministry of Culture and Sport is currently responsible for implementing the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. On 28 April 2006, the government approved the text of the Convention and presented it to the Parliament for ratification. The instrument of ratification was deposited on 18 December 2006. On the 25th October 2006, it was approved and ratified by the King of Spain, one month later of being approved by the Senate.
In the case of the Organisation of Iberoamerican States for the Education, Science and Culture (OEI), of which Spain has been a member since 1949, the Sub Secretariat for Education, Culture and Sport, through its Sub Directorate-General for International Cooperation, coordinates the participation of the Ministry at the Iberoamerican Conferences of the Ministers of Culture, in the framework of the Iberoamerican Summits.
The MARCO programmes organised by the current Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and the OEI currently underway, cover practically all of the cultural sectors: in the area of books, archives and libraries, ABINIA, IBERARCHIVOS-ADAI and RILVI; in the cinema and audiovisual sector, IBERMEDIA; in the field of music, IBERORQUESTAS JUVENILES, IBERMÚSICAS; in the field of the area of fine arts and cultural assets, IBERMUSEOS; in the sector of performing arts, IBERESCENA; in the area of intellectual property: FIPI; and in the area of libraries, IBERBIBLIOTECAS. Since 1982, Spain has also been a signatory to the Andrés Bello Agreement, an intergovernmental organisation that works to achieve the educational, scientific and cultural integration of Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Spain, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic and Venezuela. Spain is also a member of the Regional Centre for Book Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLALC), an intergovernmental organisation of Ibero-America, under the auspices of UNESCO, which works towards the development and integration of the region through the construction of reading societies.
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