How taxes preserve Europe’s cultural heritage
Taxes play a key role in the preservation and protection of Europe’s rich and diverse cultural heritage.
Cultural heritage comes in many shapes and forms. It can be tangible, such as buildings and artefacts or intangible like oral traditions and practices. It can also be natural or digital. Cultural heritage plays an important role in the history and identity of countries within the EU as well as the continent overall. This makes its preservation not only necessary, but paramount.
Funding programmes safeguarding our cultural heritage
A portion of the revenue collected from taxes in Europe is used to protect and preserve cultural heritage through funding programmes. The Creative Europe programme, for example, is the European Commission’s framework programme which supports culture and audio-visual sectors. From its EUR 1.46 billion budget for the 2014-2020 period, approximately EUR 27 million was reserved for cultural heritage-related projects.
Additionally, the EU has invested over EUR 300 million through Horizon 2020 in research and innovation in cultural heritage. Horizon 2020 aims to leverage the innovation potential of cultural heritage to protect and preserve it as well as enhance socio-economic opportunities. By doing this, cultural heritage is a strategic resource for future generations including the economy.
Between 2007-2013, EUR 3.2 billion was invested in heritage from the European Regional Development Fund. This fund is linked specifically to the protection, promotion and development of cultural heritage among its investment priorities under the objective "Preserving and protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency". A further EUR 1.2 billion was invested on rural heritage from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. This fund supports the restoration, maintenance, and upgrading of cultural and natural heritage of villages, rural landscapes and high nature value sites.
Another example of a funding programme is the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. Millions of euros from this programme have been invested into projects related to key aspects of tangible, intangible and digital cultural heritage. These projects address a multitude of areas from cultural interactions, museums and identities and linguistic diversity to conservation and restoration, predictive models and early warning devices, and energy efficiency of historic buildings.
In a nutshell, taxes help pay for funding programs which in turn help preserve and protect Europe’s cultural heritage.
The impact of TAXEDU
The TAXEDU digital portal was launched in November 2017 by the European Commission’s Taxation and Customs Union Directorate-General. Since then, the platform has played a critical role in tax education in schools throughout Europe. Not only is it proving to be a key teaching tool for tax-related lessons, but it is also helping to spread awareness among young people about the importance of tax compliance.
Through the platform, teachers are supported by a range of teaching materials including lesson plans, microlearning clips and accompanying storyboards.
Teaching students about tax and the role it plays in society such as the protection and preservation of cultural heritage, has never been more meaningful!