Policies affecting cultural matters are mainly set by individual member states. Cultural co-operation between member states has been a concern of the EU since its inclusion as a community competency in the Maastricht Treaty.Actions taken in the cultural area by the EU include the Culture 2000 7-year programme, the European Cultural Month event, the Media Plus programme, orchestras such as the European Union Youth Orchestra and the European Capital of Culture programme – where one or more cities in the EU are selected for one year to assist the cultural development of that city.In addition, the EU gives grants to cultural projects (totalling 233 in 2004) and has launched a Web portal dedicated to Europe and culture, responding to the European Council's expressed desire to see the Commission and the member states "promote the networking of cultural information to enable all citizens to access European cultural content by the most advanced technological means".

Within the EU, politicians, such as the President of the European Parliament, appeal to a shared European historical/cultural heritage, including Greek philosophy, Roman law, the Judeo-Christian heritage, and a tradition of freedom and democracy, but also negative elements such as the World wars

There is some EU cultural cooperation. Cultural cooperation between member states has become a community competency since its inclusion in 1992 in the Maastricht Treaty. Actions taken in the cultural area by the EU include the Culture 2000 7-year programme, the European Cultural Month event, the Media Plus programme, orchestras such as the European Union Youth Orchestra and the European Capital of Culture programme — where one or more cities in the EU are selected for one year to assist cultural development of the city.

In addition, the EU gives grants to cultural projects (233 in 2004) and has launched a Web portal dedicated to Europe and Culture, responding to the European Council's expressed desire to see the Commission and the member states "promote the networking of cultural information to enable all citizens to access European cultural content by the most advanced technological means."

Support for cultural actions

This strand  enables a wide range of cultural organisations coming from various countries to cooperate on cultural and artistic projects. This strand includes three sub-categories:

• Multi-annual co-operation projects, running over a period of three to five years.
• Co-operation measures, running over a maximum period of two years.
• Special measures, which relate to high-profile actions of considerable scale and scope. The support to European Capitals of Culture falls under this sub-strand.

Support for cultural bodies

This strand supports cultural bodies at European level. They encourage exchanges between cultural organisations in different European countries, identify the European artistic community’s needs, represent the sector in dealing with EU institutions, participate in the public debate on cultural issues, and act as European cultural ambassadors.

Support for analysis and dissemination activities

This strand  supports analysis and dissemination activities, which help to raise awareness of the Culture programme and its activities in various ways. The first focus is on providing support for analyses in the field of cultural co-operation and policy development. The second is by supporting cultural contact points which have been established to ensure the effective grassroots dissemination of practical and targeted information on the programme locally in all participating countries. The third focus is on supporting the collection and dissemination of information, so that cultural operators can make use of the output and results of previous EU-funded projects.