Putting culture and citizens at the heart of European democracy

The annual conference «A Soul for Europe 2026» opened at the Parliament’s headquarters in Berlin, right next to the iconic Brandenburg Gate. For more than twenty years, this event has brought together European networks, institutions, civil society organisations, representatives from the cultural sector and intellectuals.

Driven by the Stiftung Zukunft Berlin and its citizens« initiative »A Soul for Europe’, in partnership with the European Festivals Association, the Evangelical Academy of Berlin and the Yuste European and Ibero-American Academy Foundation, the 2026 edition will bring together 150 participants for its opening ceremony and has over 600 registered attendees for the working sessions and workshops.

A programme developed at the Maison Jean Monnet

The strategic framework and programme for this meeting were finalised in April 2026 during a seminar at the Maison Jean Monnet. This joint preparation illustrates the close cooperation between the Yuste Foundation and the Jean Monnet Association in organising the event.

Two leading figures from the Jean Monnet Association embody this commitment:

• Miguel Ángel Martín Ramos, co-founder of the «A Soul for Europe» initiative, vice-president of the Jean Monnet Association and delegate for European affairs at the Yuste Foundation in Brussels. He coordinates the working group aimed at enhancing the impact of culture on European integration and the development of active citizenship.
• Éric Pestel, President of the Jean Monnet Association and the European Cultural Hub.

Europe: The Art of Belonging

Built around the theme of «Europe: The Art of Belonging», the programme explores the foundations of a sense of belonging through five main areas of reflection:

1. Identity and design: The role of artists and cultural freedom in shaping the European imagination and the future of Europe.
2. Youth and local areas: Young people’s ability to take action and their right to build a future for themselves in rural Europe.
3. Social cohesion and inclusion: Culture, care and collective creation as fundamental drivers of a sense of belonging.
4. Mobility and public support: EU funding for the arts, culture and sustainable tourism.
5. From belonging to action: The translation of cultural ideas into democratic participation and concrete reforms.

Moving from the institution to the citizen

Speaker at the round-table discussion «From Belonging to Action. What does it take?», Éric Pestel drew on Jean Monnet’s words:

«Nothing is possible without people; nothing is sustainable without institutions.»

According to the President of the Jean Monnet Association, the European Union has for too long focused on building its institutions at the expense of re-engaging its citizens. He calls on the institutions to engage directly with civil society, particularly in the run-up to the forthcoming European Congress announced by Ursula von der Leyen in her State of the Union address.

This approach must, as a matter of priority, include European citizens who have chosen to settle in another Member State — those who embody European mobility in their daily lives — otherwise we risk missing out on «the second stage of the Erasmus rocket».