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London
Euro-Med Heritage: Culture, Capital and Trade Liberalisation in the Mediterranean
Raoul Bianchi

Abstract:
Although there has been ample discussion of the external relations of the European Union and its role as an international institutional actor in the Mediterranean countries (and indeed beyond), few analyses if any refer to the place of culture and/or heritage within the overall policy framework or the wider field of influence of the EU. This presentation situates the analysis of the Euro-Med Heritage Programme in the context of the changing political and economic landscapes of the European Union and the re-alignment of the European Union's relations with its southern/eastern neighbours. Drawing on official European Union documentation as well as personal experience of working in the Med-Voices project (Euromed HeritageII) and the material and activities it has generated, it interrogates the basis of Euro-Mediterranean Partnership from international relations and political economy perspectives, with particular emphasis on the role of "culture" and "heritage" (both tangible and intangible) in the context of the European Union's intervention in the Mediterranean region, with particular reference to the urban context.

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