NOTE: The following recommendations have been collected with various inputs. They are neither prioritised nor made coherent. This will follow later. We repeat, this is work in progress. The recommendations are all open to change, adaptation or rejection. Only you can improve the content and the form, in order to get over the involved sectors’ position as clearly and forcefully as possible. Please tell us what you think.

NOTE: The introductory headline acts merely as a short hand to recall the content of the recommendation; these are not the final words/language/terminology.

A CALL FOR POLICY. We call on European public authorities to conclude the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008 with a set of endorsed comprehensive policy recommendations, aimed at regional, national and European levels, which can guide us beyond 2008

A CALL FOR MONITORING. We call on public authorities to establish mechanisms - in collaboration with civil society - to monitor and report on Intercultural Dialogue practice in the years to come. An ongoing evaluation of actions taken at local, member state and European levels. This is a central challenge in testing the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) as a road towards truly trans-sectoral policy.

A CALL FOR MAINSTREAMING. European institutions should provide resources to mainstream diversity experience and intercultural thinking into their many programmes; especially youth, education, citizenship, culture, social affairs, media, research, external relations and enlargement can find natural links.

A CALL FOR FUNDING. European public authorities, at all levels, should support civil society organisations and networks seeking to improve their practice (in terms of reflection, governance, operational structures) through specific funding lines:

1. FOCUSED PROGRAMMES IN KEY AREAS OF DISADVANTAGE. The European Commission should implement programmes and support projects aimed at the de-segregation of migrants, Roma and other minorities in schools. In particular the EC Programme “Education and Training 2010” should aim at improving the education of minorities in the EU.
2. RETHINK FUNDING PROGRAMMES. Especially the design of the Culture Programme (2007-2013). Supporting fewer projects does not promote cultural diversity.
3. FUNDING COMMITMENTS ACROSS EU PROGRAMMES. Significant financial resources must be made available for Intercultural Dialogue. This is at the heart of the challenge for the European Union, as well as for national and local governments. No investment, no visible results. A certain percentage of each EU sector budget might be earmarked for intercultural initiatives, to encourage cross-sectoral collaboration.

A CALL FOR AN INTER-SERVICE GROUP ON INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE. We call on the European Commission to ensure that Intercultural Dialogue is systemised, and becomes a focus of the Inter-Service Group on Culture at the European Commission. This Inter-Service Group should not only serve as an exchange of information but be a place for shaping policies promoting ICD in all EU fields of action as a cross-sector approach.

A CALL TO DEEPEN THE OPEN METHOD OF COORDINATION IN THE AREA OF INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE. We call on the EU national governments to involve civil society more directly and strongly in the Open Method of Coordination in the field of Culture (both at national and European level) and to work towards a European standard for supporting culture in general and for placing an emphasis on intercultural dialogue programmes.

A CALL FOR INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE IN EXTERNAL RELATIONS. We call on the European public authorities to promote a consciously willed intercultural dimension – that goes far beyond traditional cultural diplomacy or cultural cooperation – in their relations with the rest of the world. This policy strand would be complementary to the development of the intercultural agenda inside Europe.

A CALL TO ADOPT AND EXPAND THE LISBON AGENDA. We call on the European public authorities to adapt the “Lisbon agenda” – but also to transcend the economic understanding of competitiveness and elaborate a citizens’ agenda which re-defines citizenship as a right of all the peoples living in Europe which will in turn expand the horizons of creativity and help tap into the resources provided by these diverse communities.

A CALL TO EMBRACE ALL CULTURAL GROUPS (BEYOND ETHNIC DEFINITIONS). We call on the EU institutions and the Member States to ensure that in the educational context the notion of ‘interculturality’ is widened to embrace all cultural groups, and not just target ethnic minorities, for the development of social, intercultural and civic competences. ¹⁾

A CALL FOR A NEW APPROACH TO EDUCATION (RESEARCH AND CORE SKILLS) IN THE CONTEXT OF INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE. We call on the EU institutions and the Member States to ensure that:

• Non-discrimination and equality mainstreaming are put at the core of the schools system, including research and data collection on the acquisition of the core competences by ethnic minorities;
• A greater emphasis is placed on social and intercultural skills as part of the core competences that each pupil needs and on how schools promote this objective;
• Better use is made of new forms of teaching and learning as a way to address the needs of pupils from various minority backgrounds;
• Best practices coming from non-formal education and promoted by NGOs are integrated into the school system of member states;
• The results of Life Long Learning Programmes (LLP), in particular the cross-fertilisation of research and practices resulting from sectoral LLP programmes, are better disseminated throughout the Member States’ national education systems.

A CALL FOR LEGACIES AND LINKS TO PREVIOUS EUROPEAN YEARS. We call on the European Union to take all the necessary steps to create, or strengthen, the conditions for constructive intercultural dialogue to occur within the legacy of the 2007 European Year of Equal Opportunities for All. Both 2007 and 2008 foster social inclusion, equality, responsible and active citizenship as well as an increased well-being for all. A key conclusion of the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All 2007 was the need to follow up on achievements by strengthening efforts to prevent and combat discrimination based on sex, race or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, inside and outside the labour market and to take full account of the specific issues arising from multiple discrimination when designing laws and when monitoring and evaluating policies and support programmes.

A CALL FOR ‘FAIR AND EQUAL TREATMENT.’ We recommend that the goal of ensuring that the fair and equal treatment of all residents of the European Union (i.e. that they have full and equal access to employment, housing, education and training as well as to goods and services through the adoption of new legislation banning discrimination on the grounds of age, religion, disability and sexual orientation) be integrated into the commitment to intercultural dialogue as a practical precondition of such work.

A CALL TO MAINSTREAM ANTIDISCRIMINATION POLICIES. Given that access to a level playing field is a key success factor for intercultural and inter-religious dialogues to happen, we recommend that the European Union mainstream anti-racism and non-discrimination in all community policies in the field of intercultural dialogue to ensure that all people living in the EU have equal opportunities to participate in intercultural and inter-religious dialogue activities.

A CALL TO IMPLEMENT THE UNESCO CONVENTION OF 2005. Given that the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions has become European Community law and all internal and external policies of the EU therefore have to conform to it and to contribute to the implementation of its provisions, we call on the European Union to consider cultural goods and services in equal measure to non-commercial cultural expressions in the implementation of this Convention. We ask that the Convention also be applied as an instrument to promote plurality in the European cultural industries and to encourage intercultural dialogue both within Europe and internationally. We ask that special attention be paid to the promotion of the cultural expressions of minorities in this regard (Art. 2.3 and 7.1a).

A CALL TO WIDEN AND DEMOCRATISE PROJECT SELECTION. The Culture 2000 programme supported between 5 and 10 cooperation projects, which largely took place in 'third countries' and enjoyed huge popularity. This was also the case with the first call for projects under the new programme 2007–2013. However, since the second call in 2008, projects with non-EU partners are only admissible with single, pre-selected countries. This contradicts the intention to support intercultural dialogue internationally. We call on the EU institutions to ensure that in the next generation Culture Programme a number of projects are accepted without predetermined third countries.

A CALL TO WIDEN ACCESS TO AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS. Public awareness raising campaigns of the European Commission such as “For Diversity. Against Discrimination” appear to be ineffective in reaching the very people who discriminate against or prevent minorities from taking part in a societal dialogue. We therefore call on the European Commission to prioritise project-based actions, targeting groups from which change is required. Where the focus remains on awareness-raising (e.g. rights education), campaigns should more clearly address specific groups - such as Roma – taking the special characteristics of the various Member States into account. Attention also needs to be paid to the fact that internet communications – currently prioritised by the European Commission – do not reach impoverished young people, such as many Roma young people in the new Member States.