At the initiative of Ambassador Patrick Engelberg, Permanent Representative of Luxembourg to the Council of Europe, a briefing session about the Cultural Routes programme was organised for the permanent representatives of the members states of the Council of Europe and observers.

The session was held on 26 March at the Permanent Representation of Luxembourg and was attended by a high number of delegations, including from countries who are not yet members of the Cultural Routes programme.

The presentations by Ambassador Engelberg, Chair of the Statutory Committee of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes (EPA), Bjorn Berge, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe and Roberto Olla, Head of the Department for Democratic Freedoms and Institutions, focused on the achievements and role of the programme in supporting the implementation of the New Democratic Pact for Europe.

Rui Gomes, Executive Secretary of the EPA presented the programme’s main stakeholders and components as a very practical means of implementing Council of Europe policies on the value of cultural heritage for promoting cohesive societies, intercultural dialogue and the human right of access to culture. “This may well be a partial agreement), but its vitality and contribution for democracy are full and complete”, he added.