On 9 May 2019, at a summit in Sibiu, Romania, national leaders are expected to follow up and commit to the Leaders’ Agenda, which is a list of the most pressing issues and challenges for which solutions should be found, ahead of the European elections in 2019.  
Ahead of the Sibiu summit, AEC sent an open letter to the President Donald Tusk calling to make culture an integral part of the future of Europe in Sibiu.

In our letter we reaffirm the relevance of what Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker, stated in November 2017, at the meeting of the European Commission leaders in Gothenburg, Sweden:
"Education and culture are the key to the future – both for the individual as well as for our Union as a whole."
 
AEC shares the conviction that the future of the European Union is difficult to imagine without the explicit recognition of its cultural dimension. Culture and Cultural Education are therefore key to build a European identity and are the glue that holds Europe together.

Furthermore, we affirm that Culture and Democracy are not independent one from the other. Moreover, we are deeply convinced that innovation and critical thinking are based on creativity, artistic work and research.

With this letter, we support the call of Culture Action Europe, because we believe that we must cultivate this collective ethos. In order to create a better future, culture is a necessity.
 
Please find our open letter hereby attached.