"Even though culture is said to be so fundamentally important, the European Union has never explicitly formulated its cultural policy. Culture and cultural policies were not considered priorities during the first period of European integration and were discussed only in the later phases. Even though most member states still reject the idea of formulating `common cultural policy’ and insist on respect for the principle of `subsidiarity’, there has also been a consensus in favour of establishing a certain degree of cooperation in the cultural field, because many issues require European-level coordination." (Quoted from paper)