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1. The Community shall contribute to the flowering of the cultures
of the Member States, while respecting their national and regional
diversity and at the same time bringing the common cultural heritage
to the fore.
2. Action by the Community shall be aimed at encouraging cooperation
between Member States and, if necessary, supporting and supplementing
their action in the following areas:
- improvement of the knowledge and dissemination of the culture
and history of the European peoples;
- conservation and safeguarding of cultural heritage of European
significance;
- non-commercial cultural exchanges;
- artistic and literary creation, including in the audiovisual
sector.
3. The Community and the Member States shall foster cooperation
with third countries and the competent international organisations
in the sphere of culture, in particular the Council of Europe.
4. The Community shall take cultural aspects into account in its
action under other provisions of this Treaty, in particular in order
to respect and to promote the diversity of its cultures.
5. In order to contribute to the achievement of the objectives
referred to in this Article, the Council:
- acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article
251 and after consulting the Committee of the Regions, shall adopt
incentive measures, excluding any harmonisation of the laws and
regulations of the Member States. The Council shall act unanimously
throughout the procedure referred to in Article 251;
- acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission, shall adopt
recommendations.
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