Sometimes the most interesting policy documents say the least. The report The minutes of the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council (OJCS Council) meeting of May 2026, published on 27 August, are a good example of this. At first glance, it appears to be a routine review of a Brussels Council of Ministers meeting, with agreements on education, cultural programmes and European cooperation. However, a closer read reveals that a much more significant development is taking shape beneath the surface. For the first time, it is becoming apparent that artificial intelligence is no longer regarded solely as a technological issue, but as a subject that touches on culture, journalism, copyright, democracy and, ultimately, the position of the cultural sector itself.
Remarkably, this is being achieved without resorting to grand rhetoric. In Brussels, the Netherlands is speaking out on artistic and editorial freedom, the protection of cultural heritage, human creativity in the age of AI, and resilient cultural and creative sectors. It also advocates for a fair distribution of resources within the new European programme AgoraEU, with news media and journalism retaining a distinct identity alongside audiovisual productions and film.
From a grant scheme to strategic infrastructure
At first glance, this seems to be primarily a debate about funding flows. In reality, however, it concerns something far more fundamental: which parts of Europe’s cultural infrastructure deserve protection now that AI is using ever-increasing amounts of cultural material to build new systems?
That question is addressed even more explicitly later in the report. Several Member States are calling for fair remuneration where AI systems copy works without the creators being rewarded for them. At the same time, it is emphasised that artistic and editorial freedom may come under pressure and that European copyright law needs to be reviewed in the light of rapid developments in AI. This shifts the debate from copyright as a legal instrument to copyright as a prerequisite for a healthy cultural economy.
Copyright is becoming a democratic issue
That is a significant change. For a long time, AI was discussed primarily in terms of innovation, competitiveness or digital regulation. Understandably, the cultural sector focused mainly on the question of whether works were being used without permission to train models. That discussion remains important, but the Brussels agenda shows that Europe is now asking a broader question. Not only how creators are protected, but also how the cultural and journalistic infrastructure as a whole remains viable as AI becomes an increasingly important gateway to information, stories and knowledge.
This draws a striking parallel with the recent advice from the Council for Culture, which also states that AI is, in essence, a cultural technology and that the value of cultural data must be recognised much more explicitly. Here, too, the focus is shifting from individual technologies to the question of how a sustainable cultural sector can continue to function when AI comes to play a dominant role in the production, distribution and consumption of cultural content.
That is precisely why the debate on AgoraEU is more interesting than it appears on paper. The Netherlands supports the merger of existing European programmes for culture, media and human rights, but at the same time expressly calls for distinct, recognisable components for journalism, news media and cross-sectoral projects.
That is not merely an administrative detail. It shows that the boundaries between culture, the media and democracy are becoming increasingly blurred, whilst at the same time each sector is seeking ways to preserve its own distinct role. After all, journalism fulfils a different public role to film or the performing arts, whilst, in an AI-driven environment, it is increasingly confronted with the same economic and technological challenges.
The missing link
Perhaps the most striking thing about the entire report, however, is what it does not contain. Virtually every policy area is covered: AI, culture, journalism, copyright, democratic resilience, heritage, creativity and education. Yet one perspective is almost entirely absent: that of the citizen.
There is extensive discussion about the protection of creators, institutions and sectors, but hardly any mention of how citizens will continue to find reliable cultural and journalistic information in the future, when AI increasingly determines what information is displayed, how it is summarised and in what context it appears. The cultural sector is therefore in a transitional phase. It is right to defend its economic and legal position, but in the coming years it will probably also have to consider what public function it fulfils within an information environment in which the traditional boundaries between libraries, archives, museums, broadcasters, journalism and AI systems are becoming increasingly blurred.
That is perhaps where the greatest challenge lies. The discussion on AI is still often framed as a debate about technology or intellectual property. However, the talks in Brussels show that Europe is gradually developing a different perspective. AI is changing not only the way in which cultural works are created or used, but also the way in which knowledge circulates, how citizens inform themselves and how social significance is created.
For the cultural sector, this means that it is no longer merely a provider of art, heritage or stories. It is increasingly becoming part of the public knowledge infrastructure upon which future AI systems will be built. This naturally calls for the protection of copyright and fair remuneration. But just as important is a broader vision of the role of culture in a society in which human creativity, journalistic independence and reliable knowledge no longer coexist alongside technology as a matter of course, but are becoming increasingly intertwined with it.
The Brussels report does not yet provide a detailed answer to this. However, it does make it clear that Europe is beginning to ask the right questions. For the cultural sector, this is perhaps the most important development of all.
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