Abstract

Culture is for the Member States, not for the European Union (EU). This position is one which marked the competence divide in the field of culture in the early phases of European integration, and that is still an argument today. Throughout European integration, however, it has become clear that culture is omnipresent in the EU legal order. EU economic law for example is concerned with cultural diversity in the regulation of audiovisual media services. EU state aid law carves out a specific legal regime to support cultural activities. Yet, the approach of EU law towards culture is often confined to the well-known divide between the economic and the non-economic. On its economic side, culture is put in the rationality of the internal market, where law and policies are focusing on the free movement of cultural goods and services and the free movement of workers in the cultural sectors. On its societal side, culture is associated with citizenship, intercultural dialogue and other non-economic concepts close to the social sciences. The economic and non-economic character of cultural activities is also a structural characteristic of the cultural sectors. This talk unpacks this dichotomy and discusses where the societal fits when approaching culture through European economic law. 

Biography

Aurélie Villanueva obtained her PhD 'Culture in European Union Law: From Market to Society' from the European University Institute in 2023.

Beforehand she completed an LLM in European Law at Leiden University and specialised in European Competition law and Regulation at the University of Amstedam. She holds a bachelor in Law from the University of Strasbourg, France. She has been a trainee at the Legal Service of the European Commission and a visiting researcher at Stockholm University.