Last profile update: December 2007

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1 COUNTRY PROFILE SLOVAKIA Last profile update: December 2007 This profile was prepared and updated by Mr. Martin SMATLÁK (Bratislava). It is based on official and non-official sources addressing current cultural policy issues. The opinions expressed in this profile are those of the author and are not official statements of the government or of the Compendium editors. Additional national cultural policy profiles are available on: If the entire profile or relevant parts of it are reproduced in print or in electronic form including in a translated version, for whatever purpose, a specific request has to be addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe who may authorise the reproduction in consultation with ERICarts. Such reproduction must be accompanied by the standard reference below, as well as by the name of the author of the profile. Standard Reference: Council of Europe/ERICarts: "Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe", 12 th edition Available from World Wide Web: <

2 SLOVAKIA 1 1. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: CULTURAL POLICIES AND INSTRUMENTS GENERAL OBJECTIVES AND PRINCIPLES OF CULTURAL POLICY Main features of the current cultural policy model National definition of culture Cultural policy objectives COMPETENCE, DECISION-MAKING AND ADMINISTRATION Organisational structure (organigram) Overall description of the system Inter-ministerial or intergovernmental co-operation International cultural co-operation CURRENT ISSUES IN CULTURAL POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND DEBATE Main cultural policy issues and priorities Recent policy issues and debates Other relevant issues and debates MAIN LEGAL PROVISIONS IN THE CULTURAL FIELD General legislation Legislation on culture Sector specific legislation FINANCING OF CULTURE Short overview Public cultural expenditure Trends and indicators for private cultural financing PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS IN CULTURAL INFRASTRUCTURE Cultural infrastructure: tendencies & strategies Basic data about selected public institutions in the cultural sector Status and partnerships of public cultural institutions PROMOTING CREATIVITY AND PARTICIPATION Support to artists and other creative workers Cultural consumption and participation Arts and cultural education Amateur arts, cultural associations and civil initiatives SOURCES AND LINKS Key documents on cultural policy Key organisations and portals This profile was prepared by Martin Šmatlák, with incorporated comments from the Slovakian Ministry of Culture. Last profile update: December SK-1

3 1. Historical perspective: cultural policies and instruments In the course of the twentieth century, Slovakia underwent a number of fundamental social and political changes. These changes always had a strong influence on the cultural development and the cultural policy in force in the territory of Slovakia. After the fall of the multi-ethnic Austro-Hungarian monarchy at the end of the First World War, Slovaks had the opportunity to become a state-forming nation. The establishment of the first Czechoslovak Republic on 28 October 1918 created the conditions for the existence of Slovakia in a historically new social and political context. Slovak political leaders approved the Czechoslovak state at the meeting of the Slovak National Council, which adopted the Declaration of the Slovak Nation on 30 October The creation of Czechoslovakia was the first time in history that international recognition was given to Slovakia's borders and its capital city Bratislava. Slovak became the official language of the state, education and the church on the territory of Slovakia. At this time, there was also great development in the institutional base and the value of Slovak culture, art and education the first Slovak university (Comenius University in Bratislava) was established in 1919; in 1920 the Slovak National Theatre was established; there was also development in Slovak museums (the Slovak Museum was established in Bratislava in 1924) and a number of cultural, artistic and public education societies were established. The largest of them, the Matica Slovenská (Slovak Matica or cultural society), first established during the Slovak national revival in the nineteenth century (1863), renewed its cultural and education activities in 1919 and began the collection of a national library. From the beginning of its existence as a state, Slovakia had to address the issue of its Hungarian minority and their culture. Slovakia was the significantly less economically developed part of the new state and the Slovak economy returned to pre-war production levels only in Czechoslovakia managed to retain a democratic form of government. Its weakness was the unitary character of the state and the constitutionally-enshrined concept of a unified Czechoslovak nation. This political and cultural concept provoked several nationally-oriented political parties to seek to establish an autonomous status for Slovakia within the common state. After the international political re-drawing of Czechoslovakia's borders (the Munich Agreement), Slovakia declared its autonomy in October The Vienna arbitration of 2 November 1938 re-drew the borders of Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia in favour of the Kingdom of Hungary. Thereafter, on 14 March 1939, the first independent Slovak Republic was established, albeit strongly dependent on Nazi Germany in both domestic and foreign policy. The nation state based its cultural policy on the national and revivalist trends of the nineteenth century. It emphasised the national dimension of culture and its role as a tool in creating and strengthening national and state identity. The wartime economic boom encouraged the development of the economy and allowed new cultural, scientific and educational institutions to be established. On 1 May 1941, the Slovak National Library was established as a part of the Matica Slovenská. On 2 July 1942, the Slovak parliament voted to establish the Slovak Academy of Sciences and Arts. The media were also developed in accordance with state propaganda on 16 June 1939, Slovenský Rozhlas (Slovak Radio) was established as a separate broadcaster. The state encouraged the development of film production in Slovakia on 7 November 1939, the Nástup corporation was established to produce, distribute and develop films. The cultural policy of the independent wartime state was influenced by national ideology and state propaganda, which largely defined the values of Slovak culture in this period. A counterweight to the official state ideology was the anti-fascist resistance undertaken both within Slovakia and abroad during the Second World War. It led to the restoration of Czechoslovakia after the war as a common state with a parliamentary democracy and an SK-2

4 equal social and political status for Slovaks. The Communist Party obtained a strong political position thanks to its role in the resistance and its relationship with the Soviet Union. The decisions of the great powers, after the Second World War, placed Czechoslovakia in the Soviet sphere of influence. The parliamentary elections of 1946 were won by the Communists in the Czech lands and the Democratic Party in Slovakia. Such political differences could not be sustained for long in the post-war environment. The Communist Party gradually radicalised the political scene and staged a coup to seize power in February The new political regime gradually liquidated civil rights, its political opponents and independent institutions. Czechoslovakia became dependent on the Soviet Union in both its foreign and internal policies. Private ownership of businesses and services in all sectors of the economy and agriculture was terminated. At this time, the basic organisational infrastructure of education and culture in Slovakia was completed. New national cultural institutions were established the Slovak National Gallery (1948), the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra (1949) and the Slovak Monuments Board (1951). Film studios were gradually established in Bratislava from the 1950s onwards. Arts education also began to develop in 1949, legislation established two arts academies in Bratislava (the Academy of Music and the Performing Arts, the Academy of Fine Arts) and a network of elementary art schools was gradually developed. Later, the Faculty of Arts of Comenius University undertook research and began to offer education in the theory and history of culture. During the socialist period, , cultural policy in Czechoslovakia was based mainly on the use of culture as an ideological instrument. The implementation of cultural policy and policy instruments was determined by official government ideology and its need for propaganda. Censorship was applied and selected cultural values were enforced. The management of cultural activities, organisations and professional associations was controlled by the state and the bodies of the Communist Party. The highest authority of the state administration with responsibility for culture was the Ministry with responsibility for Slovakia. Like every other area (ministry) of state administration, culture had a political counterpart or "supervisor" in the corresponding department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Initially, the state administration managed culture in combination with other areas (schools, public education). An independent Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Socialist Republic was established in At the lower levels of the state administration, culture was the responsibility of the national commissions (local authorities of state administration). The Communist Party ascribed an important role to culture in the development of the "new society and person". The regime gave a special status to the audiovisual media (radio, television, film), traditional folk culture (with the establishment of many folklore groups and events) and public education activities (amateur organisations as an instrument for increasing the availability of culture to broad layers of the population). The national dimension of culture and cultural identity was suppressed and emphasis was placed on socialist internationalism, uniformity in the opinions and values of cultural expression and the educational function of culture. A positive consequence of the communist thesis of bringing culture to the masses was the development of a network of basic art schools, which remains even today an exceptional instrument of cultural policy in the area of arts education and cultural activities for young people. The main instruments controlling the cultural policy of the socialist state were the resolutions and programming documents of the individual bodies of the Communist Party. Cultural policy was implemented by cultural organisations, leagues and associations controlled by communist censorship. Foreign cooperation in the area of culture focussed almost exclusively on countries in the socialist block or mainly left-oriented cultural expression in Western countries. Freedom of expression in art was suppressed, deforming the evolution of values in culture and its constituent disciplines. The result was an SK-3

5 imbalance between the development of the cultural infrastructure and the growth in the state's investment in culture on the one hand, and the censorship and restriction of diversity in cultural values on the other. The pressure of the ideological limitations led to the creation of various informal cultural associations and unofficial cultural activity. Cultural dissent was much less influential in Slovak society than in Czech lands, where communist repression was much more intensive after the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in Informal "alternative" cultural, social and political activities took place on the platform of associations for the protection of nature and landscape, cultural communities and independent art groups or within Christian fellowships. The significance of such activities was mainly the preservation of contact between Slovak cultural and artistic activities and the international (especially Western) cultural context and the creation and presentation of alternative cultural and artistic values. The fall of the communist dictatorship in 1989 introduced new principles to the functioning of society. In the new social order, the first priority was to establish democratic political structures and state authorities, the transformation of the economy and legislation. In the new democracy, culture was to become an identifier of value that would balance economic and social development. The new status of culture was due to the active participation of some cultural personalities in the political and social changes (Slovak theatre artists and other artists played an important part in rousing the population in November 1989). In the area of cultural policy, the main effects were the lifting of censorship and ideological supervision, freedom in artistic creation, equal rights for a diversity of cultural creation and creators, the introduction of transparent financing for diverse cultural activities and the search for new partnerships through international cooperation. Many previously banned books and films could be distributed and there were many new festivals and cultural events. It became possible for private entrepreneurs to do business in the field of culture (book and music publishing, film, magazines, production and agency activities for culture) and the former state monopoly organisations in these areas were destined for privatisation. Change in the Copyright Act strengthened the rights of authors, performers and producers and brought these rights into line with European standards. In 1991, the state cultural fund Pro Slovakia was established as a new source of financing for cultural activities and projects. The fund was managed by the Ministry of Culture. Despite a number of steps in the right direction and positive decisions, cultural policy did not become a clearly elaborated or enacted priority of the new political elites after November A special issue that the Ministry of Culture dealt with at that time was the relationship between the state and the churches and religious societies. The main task was to settle questions of ownership in relation to church real estate, the Act on the Freedom of Religious Belief, and the Act on the Registration of Churches and Religious Societies. The state grant to the activity of churches and religious societies remained part of the budget of the Ministry of Culture. After the reorganisation of local state administrative authorities (the former national committees), it was necessary to address the question of the financing of local cultural organisations. In 1999, 157 such organisations were brought under the control of the Ministry of Culture and by the start of 1992, 230 cultural organisations had come under the direct management of the ministry. This situation was intended to ensure the preservation of local and regional culture until the transformation of public administration was completed and the tax system had been reformed. One result of this temporary centralisation of financial and organisational management was that transformation processes in culture took place without a systematic framework and sometimes with destructive consequences for culture (for example, the collapse of film production, the SK-4

6 deformation of the book market, the stagnation of the public media). Cultural policy was directed towards quick solutions to specific problems; the ministry did not have a longterm development strategy or the necessary financial and human resources to transform the system. After 1989, the term cultural policy fell out of use for a time in Slovak specialist and political discourse. The cause was mainly the association of this term with the policy of the previous regime and its political manipulation and ideological censorship of culture. The search for new meaning, content and means for cultural policy continues in Slovakia to the present day. In this area, it is also symptomatic that after 1989, very few political parties gave culture its own place in their election manifestos and mainly limited comment to a few general political phrases. Despite the continuing lack of a long term strategy for cultural development and long term priorities for cultural policies, there was a discussion in Slovakia after 1989 of the majority of fundamental issues that had been argued over in European countries in the 1980s and 1990s. This discussion also included differences of opinion which lead to the break up of several professional artistic associations and the establishment of many new interest groups in culture. After a short period of spontaneous social freedom and enthusiasm for the rapid and peaceful change in the political regime, it was necessary to manage transformation processes and the new state organisation. A milestone in the development of Slovak culture was the adoption of the Constitution of the Slovak Republic (Act 490/1992). For the area of culture, the constitution primarily codified the Slovak language as the state language, guaranteed freedom of expression and the right to information, banned censorship, guaranteed the freedom of scientific research and the arts, gave legal protection to the results of creative intellectual activity and guaranteed the right of access to cultural heritage. Politics in Czechia and Slovakia developed in different directions and after the elections in 1992, this resulted in the break-up of Czechoslovakia and the establishment of two independent states from 1 January In contrast to the civic principle of the common state, in independent Slovakia the priority was the national and state principle. This gradually led to increased administrative centralisation in the management of culture and the distribution of finances for cultural activities. The ministry established so-called national methodological centres for the individual areas of culture (theatre, music, galleries, monuments, museums, the audiovisual arts, public education, the media) at a national level and regional cultural centres were established to manage culture at a local level. The Ministry of Culture gave increased legislative attention to questions of the state language and its use (an Act on the State Language and related legislation were passed). The Matica Slovenská acquired an important status and state funding, under a separate law, making it a national public cultural institution. The result of this enhanced status was the gradual transfer of its activities into the political domain. This weakened the previous cultural traditions and values of this historic cultural and educational institution. After the elections in 1998, there was a sharp change in Slovakia's political orientation. The new government aimed for Slovakia's faster entry into the European Union and NATO and faster transformation processes in the economy and certain other social systems (welfare and social services, health care, the military, and education). A national strategy for long-term sustainable development was adopted. Changes in the structure of cultural organisations took place as a result of the Strategy for the reform of public administration in the Slovak Republic. The Ministry of Culture prepared specific measures for the culture sector based on this strategy in This involved mainly the reorganisation of state administration related to the protection of monuments and the decentralisation of the ministry's management of 152 cultural organisations. The transfer of these powers to new SK-5

7 territorial administrative authorities (self-governing regions see chapter 3.2) was completed in In cultural policy, there began to be greater approximation of legislation and instruments of cultural policy with European documents and programmes (especially in relation to the audiovisual arts and the media, the protection of cultural heritage and cultural diversity). In 2000, Slovakia joined the European Programme on National Cultural Policy Reviews. The Ministry of Culture prepared a National Report on Cultural Policy, which it officially submitted to the Council of Europe in February On the basis of this report, the ministry submitted the Strategy for state cultural policy and the action plan for its implementation for discussion to the government in The rationale for the document states that in the period from 1989 "culture in Slovakia has undergone in the context of other social changes continuous changes in the institutional system and gradual stagnation of financial resources, but has not yet produced an overall, formalised vision of the strategy for the development of the cultural sector". The government approved the submitted material in November 2004 as a general framework for long-term cultural development and for further practical measures in the area of cultural policy. Despite the fact that the main part of the document (the strategy) contained mainly general declarations and opinions, it was the first time that the government of the Slovak Republic had considered material on its cultural strategy. A new definition of cultural policy was added to the political and social context. This emphasised its recognition of responsibility for continuous state support for the cultural development of the country and its population. Terms such as cultural diversity, instruments of cultural policy, monitoring of cultural policy, cultural infrastructure and many others became part of political and academic discussion. The practical implementation of cultural policy was expected, thereby, to produce a long term framework for strategy and promising directions for the development of culture in Slovakia. The adoption of this document allowed the basic objective of cultural policy, which is to change the relationship of society and political structures to culture, to progress in the direction of the reform of the institutional and financial framework of cultural policy in Slovakia. SK-6

8 2. General objectives and principles of cultural policy 2.1 Main features of the current cultural policy model The main principles of Slovak cultural policies are defined in the Programme Declaration of the Government of the Slovak Republic (Programové vyhlásenie Vlády Slovenskej republiky, PVV) and its detailing in the scope of the competence of the Ministry of Culture during the period between 2006 and The Programme Declaration of the Government of the SR advances the perception of culture in the general sense as an inevitable precondition for increasing the quality of life of citizens of the Slovak Republic. With regard to this fact, PVV unequivocally declares that the support of culture from public funds is right and, simultaneously, a direct political and ideological impact on culture is not permissible. The government document considers the protection and utilisation of cultural heritage, together with supporting new authentic artistic works and their presentation, to be one of the crucial pillars for the preservation and strengthening of the identity of Slovakia within the environment of the globalisation and commercialisation of culture. In the Programme Declaration, it is emphasised that the government of the Slovak Republic, when operating in the area of culture and while applying a cultural policy, will observe three fundamental principles continuity, communication and coordination: "a continuity with everything positive made within this sphere in the previous period, communication with the cultural community and other participating groups is an important element of the process of making basic essential decisions in the area of culture, and coordination with an objective in order to achieve a positive synergy in creating conditions for the effective utilisation of sources for the protection, creation and extension of culture". The basic documents relating to a cultural policy in the Slovak Republic do not contain an expressly defined model of cultural policy that would form the initial framework for the defining of strategic plans, objectives and concrete steps of a cultural policy. The document Strategy of the state cultural policy (Stratégia štátnej kultúrnej politiky), issued in 2002, defines the so-called "hybrid" model of cultural policy, which combines the stateadministrative approach (the state provides funds for the development of culture and art production, elaborates long-term conceptions and visions regarding artistic and cultural development; key role - cultural institutions managed by the state) with a decentralised model (the co-existence of the state and regional cultural policies; key role - regions, towns and their cultural institutions) and a liberal model (the market and private initiatives in the area of culture are the main regulators of relations in culture, key role the cultural industry). Despite this, the cultural policy of recent years in Slovakia can be defined as a gradual transition from a centralised model to both an institutional and financial decentralisation (the passing of some competences in the area of culture and financial sources to bodies of public administration). The main reason for the above process is to reform the public administration by the division of competences between the state administration and public administration bodies (autonomous regions, towns and villages). In the area of culture, the above process constitutes a natural displacement of a part of cultural activities into an environment in which specific local and regional cultural values and expressions exist as an expression of cultural diversity and cultural identity. A further continuation of this process should be the gradual formation of an "arms-length model" of cultural policy, influenced less by any direct interventions of the state in the area of culture. From a strategic development point of view of culture, and the further formation of cultural policy in Slovakia, the formation of legislative and economic conditions for cultural development will also be important. It will also be important in the amalgamation SK-7

9 of various financial sources for cultural activities and projects (elements of the entrepreneurship model). One of the many long term objectives of this process is to transfer gradually the management of public resources to independent entities established by the state, which cover individual basic areas of culture (cultural heritage, art, audio-visual). The first concrete step to achieve this model is the establishment of an audiovisual fund. The Ministry of Culture is preparing a draft bill to be issued in National definition of culture The Slovak Republic does not have a special definition regarding culture that is formulated by law. The Constitution of the Slovak Republic assures the economic, social and cultural right of citizens (rights of access to cultural wealth) and the right of protection to a cultural heritage (Article 44, par. 2 "Every citizen is obliged to protect and increase the environmental and cultural heritage"). The document entitled The Strategy of a State Cultural Policy, approved by the government of the Slovak Republic in 2004, defines culture as a complex issue, involving knowledge, faith, art, law, morals, customs and any and all other abilities and traditions which humanity has acquired during its historic development. Culture is therefore an important indicator by the state of the society and the quality of life for the individual within the society. On 28 February 2001, the National Council of the Slovak Republic approved the Declaration on the Protection of Cultural Heritage, in which cultural heritage was defined as follows: "works of material and immaterial value, movable and immovable objects, including imported pieces of work and ideas, which have found their place and application in Slovakia. " According to the above declaration, the protection of cultural heritage is in the public interest, and it is performed on the basis of respecting the individual rights and freedoms of citizens. The principles and tools for the protection of cultural heritage should not violate other civil rights without providing equivalent compensation according to relevant laws. 2.3 Cultural policy objectives One of the basic objectives of this government is the gradual increase of state subsidies for culture, in order that the share of public resources equals the usual value in other EU member states. The broadening of possibilities for a multi-resource financing of culture is a related priority, so that culture does not depend on public resources for the major part of its maintenance. In connection with the above priorities, the government of the Slovak Republic pledged, in its Programme Declaration for the period , to prepare an "Act on Financing Culture". This Act specifies the main directions and types of resources for the financing of cultural activities, as well as mechanisms of distribution, control and for the monitoring of the usefulness of public resources. The main objectives of the Programme Declaration of the Government of the Slovak Republic have been elaborated by the Ministry of Culture for the period : to create a new legislative, financial and organisational framework for the functioning of statutory media; to form legislative and institutional preconditions for the development of facilities for mass communication (Act on Digital Broadcasting, amendment to Copyright Act, new Act on Press, Act on Press Agency of the Slovak Republic); SK-8

10 to create conditions for the revival of an audiovisual culture by supporting and sponsoring both authentic Slovak productions and European co-productions (Act on Audiovisual Fund) and by enlarging the share of Slovak dubbing broadcasts; to process the conception of media teaching; to create conditions for the constant preservation of ancient monuments, the protection of preservation areas and national cultural monuments; to create a financial reserve for the purchase of objects for museums and galleries at foreign auctions; to support and develop the local and regional culture and traditional / folk culture; to adopt legislative solutions for the possibility of providing state guarantees in connection with the import of collections of great artistic value in order to arrange exhibitions of a European calibre; to support and develop the culture of ethnic minorities and the disadvantaged groups of our citizens; to provide assistance with solving the problems of national cultural institutions (the modernisation of facilities, the overall economic stabilisation and content development); to place emphasis on the increase in the access to culture as a tool for enlarging the value of human life; to develop and protect the Slovak language; to develop authentic Slovak art literature, theatre, film, television, radio art, music and creative art; to preserve the harmonic relationship with religions and religious groups, and to support their social, cultural, educational and other public activities. These general objectives have been developed into concrete legislative, economic and organisational tasks. A great number of them are realised by the Ministry of Culture in cooperation with other bodies of state administration (The Ministry of Finance / Treasury Department, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, The Ministry of Justice, the National Economic Development Office, the Office of Industry Ownership of the Slovak Republic) and public organisations (Slovak Television, Slovak Radio, the Slovak Academy of Science). Most important legislative tasks to be undertaken in the period of are: Act on Financing Culture (to 31 December 2008); Act on Fees for "Public Service Broadcasting" (draft bill submitted in May 2007); Act on Digital Broadcasting (approved on 29 March 2007); Amendment to the Copyright Act (approved on 6 February 2007); Act on a Free Press (draft bill submitted in June 2007); Act on the Press Agency of the Slovak Republic (till 31 December 2007); Audiovisual Act (approved on 20 June 2007); European Agreement on the Protection of an Audiovisual Heritage and the Protocol on the Protection of Television Production (ratified on 10 May 2007); Act on the Audiovisual Fund (under preparation in December 2007); UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (approved by the National Council of the Slovak Republic on 18 December 2006); Amendment to the Act on Museums and Galleries and on the Protection of Objects of Museum and Gallery Value (draft bill submitted in August 2007); Act on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage (till ); Amendment to the Act on the Protection of a Cultural Monuments (till ); SK-9

11 Act on the Provision of State Guarantees in connection with the import and export on collections of objects of high artistic value (till ); Amendment to the Act on Official Language (till ); and Amendment to the Act on Freedom of Religion and the Position of Church and Religious Societies. The most important strategic and conceptual tasks of the period are: the proposal for an optimisation of the infrastructure for public service media under broadcasting digitalisation (Resolution dated 23 May 2007); draft agreement between the state, Slovak Television and Slovak Radio regarding the contents and the financial guarantee for the operation of public service media (till 30 June 2008); strategy of digitalisation of audiovisual heritage (till ); a concept of media education (till 31 December 2009); a strategy on the development of museums and galleries till 2011 (approved by the government of the Slovak Republic on 20 December 2006); the strategy on the development of Slovak librarianship for the time period between (approved by the government of the Slovak Republic on 7 November 2007); the strategy on the purchase of objects of museum and gallery value (till ); a concept on the care and maintenance of traditional culture (approved by the government of the Slovak Republic on 8 August 2007); a concept on the development of local and regional culture (draft plan made in 2007); a concept on ensuring the presentation of Slovak culture and art abroad (draft conception submitted in June 2007); and a conception on the protection of cultural monuments (2008). SK-10

12 3. Competence, decision-making and administration 3.1 Organisational structure (organigram) NATIONAL LEVEL REGIONAL LEVEL National Council of the Slovak Republic (Parliament) Government of the Slovak Republic 8 self-governing regions (VUC) Committee on Culture and Media Public Broadcasters & Councils (Slovak Radio, STV, Broadcasting Council) 32 national cultural institutions 11 ministerial special advisory bodies (experts) 22 commissions of ministerial Grant System schemes MINISTRY OF CULTURE Minister s Office, PR Dep. Administrati ve Office Dep. of Informatics Dep. of Legislation Clerical Dep. Monuments Inspection Administrati ve Departments (internal audit, human resources) Directorate of Cultural Heritage Directorate of Arts Directorate of Media and Audiovisual Directorate of Minorities and Regional Culture Directorate of International Affairs Directorate of Economy Offices of selfgoverning regions (Departments of Culture) Regional cultural institutions (museums, galleries, theatres, libraries, public education and culture centers, observatories) LOCAL LEVEL Municipalities (local offices) Local cultural institutions (libraries, galleries, museums, theatres, public education centres, public art schools, cultural houses, amateur art clubs) SK-11

13 3.2 Overall description of the system The government of the Slovak Republic defines the principles for the implementation of state policy in cultural matters and coordinates the activities of central state administrative authorities. State administration is carried out though the preparation of legislation and standards, the issuing of general regulations and internal regulations. National cultural monuments are declared by government regulation. The government of the Slovak Republic approves documents on strategies and concepts for cultural policies (see also chapter 2.1 and chapter 4.1). The central state administrative authority for the cultural sector in Slovakia is the Ministry of Culture. The powers and responsibilities of the ministry have developed and gradually changed since it was established. In the course of its development, its responsibilities have included not only cultural and public education activities, the arts and cultural heritage monuments, but also nature conservation, the publication of non-periodical publications, the enforcement of copyright and production and sales in the field of culture. The current responsibilities of the Ministry of Culture are defined in Section 18 of Act 575/2001 on the organisation of the government of the Slovak Republic and the organisation of the central state administration of the Slovak Republic. Under this Act, the Ministry of Culture is the central state administrative authority in the Slovak Republic for the following areas of culture: the state language; protection of monuments; cultural heritage and libraries; art; copyright and related rights; public education and folk arts and crafts; support for the culture of national minorities; the presentation of Slovak culture abroad; relations with churches and religious societies; and media and audiovisual arts. The Ministry of Culture defines the methodology of the activity of Slovak institutes abroad with regard to their cultural responsibilities and activities. At a parliamentary level (National Council of the Slovak Republic), in the current electoral period, culture is overseen by the Committee on Culture and Media, which was established on 4 July members of the Slovak parliament sit on this committee (out of a total of 150). The responsibilities of the committee include: monitoring of the implementation of the government manifesto as related to culture and media; discussing, adopting an opinion and making recommendations on government and parliamentary draft acts, international treaties, conventions and other documents; cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, high level state authorities and public institutions falling under the supervision of the committee (Slovak Television (Slovenská televízia), Slovak Radio (Slovenský rozhlas), the Press Agency of the Slovak Republic (Tlačová agentúra Slovenskej republiky Slovakia); the board of Slovak Television, the radio board, and the Council for Broadcasting and Retransmission); cooperation with experts, particularly making use of its proposals and requests; and convening out-of-parliament sessions and Members' reviews. SK-12

14 The powers of the National Council of the Slovak Republic relating to culture include the election of members of the management and supervisory bodies of the public media. Parliament elects the members of the Board of Slovak Television, the Board of Slovak Radio, one member each of the Supervisory Commission of Slovak Television and the Supervisory Commission of Slovak Radio and members of the regulatory body for television and radio broadcasting (the Council for Broadcasting and Retransmission). The main roles of the Ministry of Culture are to prepare and submit legislation relating to culture, issuing related regulations (decrees and regulations), carrying out state administration in the area of culture and cultural heritage, ensuring the preservation of monuments and carrying out inspection of monuments, conceptual activities in relation to culture and media, collection of statistical data and information on individual areas of culture, carrying out tasks related to international cooperation and the membership of international organisations for culture and media. An important function of the ministry is the management of public finances designated for culture in the Slovak budget. The ministry also operates grant programmes (schemes) for individual areas of culture and cultural heritage. To provide for the technical and conceptual aspects of its main activities, the ministry establishes specialised advisory bodies, including: the Council of the Minister of Culture for Mass Media; the Council of the Minister of Culture for applying Information Technology in Culture; the Commission for the Preservation of Moveable Items of Cultural Heritage; the Central Language Council; the Central Library Council; the Council for the Preservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage; the Monument Council; the Archaeological Council; the Commission for the Verification of Special Professional Qualifications for Carrying Out Research on Monuments and Historic Sites; the Commission for the Preservation of Elements of Cultural Heritage; and the Commission for Research and Development. The Ministry of Culture directly manages 32 national cultural institutions operating in individual areas of the cultural sector based in a number of Slovak towns (see chapter 7.1). The ministry finances their activities from its budget or contributes towards their activities. The process of organisational and institutional reform of the state cultural sector has been defined as an initial requirement in previous concepts of cultural policy. There has been no detailed definition of individual instruments, procedures and possible effects of organisational changes on relations between the ministry and the organisations that it oversees. In 2007, the Ministry of Culture prepared for an audit of processes and personnel in all the stated organisations, including the administrative systems within its own organisation. The results of the audit and proposals for further measures will become known in At the lower levels of public administration, the distribution of public financial resources and the management of cultural organisations has been the responsibility of self-governing regions (VUC - higher territorial units) since Slovakia is divided into 8 selfgoverning regions. Their assemblies (regional parliaments) are elected by the inhabitants of the governed region for terms of four years. The powers of regional governments in the area of culture are governed by Act 302/2001, Act 416/2001 and other regulations relating to culture. The powers of the higher territorial units are: SK-13

15 the establishment of regional libraries, regional public education centres, including the establishment of observatories and planetariums, galleries and theatres; the creation of conditions for the creation, presentation and development of cultural values and cultural activities within the region; and support for the preservation of monuments and cultural heritage within the region. The duties of the state administration are carried out by offices in each self-governing region. Their area of responsibility includes organisations of regional or greater importance museums, galleries, theatres, libraries, public education centres and observatories. Five self-governing regions have a specific culture section in their organisational structure, in two regions culture is combined in a section with education, youth and sport and in one region it is combined with tourism and cultural heritage. The management activities of the self-governing regions focus mainly on financing the activities of the cultural organisations that have been put under the administration of the self-governing regions. The regions use most of the funding designated for culture for such activities. A much smaller portion is distributed through open calls for projects or individual grant schemes for culture (intended also for non-profit organisations or private-sector organisations). A number of selfgoverning regions have their own development programmes for culture. At a local level (towns and villages), the powers and responsibilities of the local government in relation to culture are defined by Act 369/1990 and other legal regulations. The main powers and responsibilities of the public administration at the communal level in relation to culture are: establishing municipal and school libraries, public education centres and public education facilities, galleries and theatres; creating conditions for culture and public education activities (amateur artistic activity, cultural and public education activities, educational and recreational activities); provision for the construction, maintenance and management of cultural facilities and cultural monuments owned by the municipality; creation of conditions for the preservation of monuments and heritage areas within the municipality; providing for the keeping of a municipal chronicle; and producing lists of places of interest in the municipality. This definition of powers and responsibilities means that municipal authorities usually combine cultural affairs with education and sport in their organisational structure. This corresponds to the perception and status of culture, at the level of towns and villages, as a mainly recreational activity (amateur activity by citizens) with an emphasis on local culture and its products. The transfer of executive powers and responsibilities in the public financing of culture to regional and municipal authorities was codified by law in Slovakia in It is a longterm process that requires a gradual increase in the professional qualifications of regional and municipal administrative authorities in the area of culture. It is also important to engage local government in strategies and specific objectives in cultural development at the national level. This objective was developed in a working proposal prepared in the 2007 Plan for the development of local and regional culture. The material was developed in cooperation with the National Centre for Public Education and Culture and the Association of Towns and Villages of Slovakia. Further discussion of the material is planned for SK-14

16 3.3 Inter-ministerial or intergovernmental co-operation Inter-ministerial cooperation between the Ministry of Culture and other ministries and central state administrative authorities relates mainly to the use of European Union Structural Funds. During the shortened programming period, funding was also used in the area of culture and cultural infrastructure. As part of this cooperation, the Ministry focussed on the following activities in particular: possibilities to use funding from the Structural Funds and PHARE / Transition Facility Funds through the Ministry of Culture; and participation of the Ministry of Culture in external executive bodies. The Ministry established a coordination committee to manage cooperation, while cooperation was implemented within the office of the Ministry by the Department for Structural Funds and Financial Instruments. During the shortened programming period, the Ministry of Culture made use of funding from the structural funds in the following operational programmes: Basic infrastructure operational programme: priority: local infrastructure, measures for building and developing the cultural infrastructure, building and developing an information society for the public sector, and renovation and development of municipalities. Industry and services sectoral operational programme: priority: improving the competitiveness of industry and services using domestic growth potential, measure: Support for the building and reconstruction of infrastructure; and priority: Development of tourism, measure: Support for the building and reconstruction of the tourism infrastructure. Single Programming Document Objective 2 Bratislava region: priority: Support for economic activity and sustainable development in the target area, measure: Support for social services in the area CR and recreation, Renewal and development of municipalities and preservation of cultural heritage. Interreg III and Basic Infrastructure Operational Programme, measure: Building and developing institutional infrastructure in the area of regional cooperation. Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources: priority: Increased qualifications and adaptability of employees and persons entering the labour market, measures: Adaptation of professional education and training to meet the needs of the knowledge-based society; Increased scope, improvement and broader provision of continuing education in order to improve the qualifications and adaptability of employees. Single Programming Document Objective 3 Bratislava region: priority: The development of life long learning and the support for research and development in the context of human resources quality improvement. PHARE / Transition Facility Fund 2005 involvement in a project financed in the Internal Market sector. The Ministry of Culture was represented in the following bodies for inter-ministerial cooperation addressing issues relating to the structural funds: equal representation of the Ministry of Culture in external executive bodies; the Government Council for Regional Policy and Supervision of Structural Operations; SK-15

17 the Coordination Committee of the Deputy Prime Minister; the Committee of Director Generals at the Ministry of Construction and Regional Development; National Monitoring Committee for the Community Support Framework; Monitoring Committee for the Basic Infrastructure Operational Programme; Monitoring Committee for the Industry and Services Sectoral Operational Programme; Managing Commission for the Community Initiative Interreg III B CADSES; the Working Group for the Preparation of the National Strategic Reference Framework; the Inter-ministerial Working Group and Group of Specialists in Partnership for the National Framework for the preparation of the National Strategic Reference Framework; and the Inter-ministerial Working Group for the Preparation of Innovative Forms of Financing that can be supported from the structural funds in the period. Activities in Slovakia in the new programming period will be governed by the National Strategic Reference Framework approved by the European Commission on 17 August The individual operational programmes for the new period were then approved, of which the most important for the cultural sector are the Information Society (approved by the European Commission on 17 September 2007; the managing authority is the Slovak Republic Government Office; the financial contribution of the European Community to the programme is euro ) and the Regional Operational Programme (approved by the European Commission on 24 September 2007; the managing authority is the Ministry of Construction and Regional Development; the financial contribution of the European Community to the programme is euro million). For culture, the National Strategic Reference Framework emphasises the acquisition, organisation, preservation and making accessible of documents and collections as moveable elements of cultural heritage. Museums, galleries and libraries play an essential part in this process. At present, Slovakia has 85 museums and 25 galleries, holding nearly 9 million items in their collections, and more than libraries. In its strategy for the development of society and the regions, the document emphasises the importance of investing in cultural heritage sites, which have a significant influence on the productivity and competitiveness of a region. In this context, the document also emphasises that Slovakia is characterised by inadequately connected and poorly integrated urban planning, and practice and planning in relation to monuments and the environment. This fact limits the effectiveness of urban development and the protection of cultural heritage (buildings, moveable items and intangible heritage). There are buildings recorded as monuments in Slovakia, of which 31% are in good condition but 19% (2 521 buildings) are damaged, nearly 6% (722 buildings) are derelict and under 6% of buildings are currently being restored. In cooperation with the civic association Partnerships for Prosperity and the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Culture organised a professional seminar on 26 September 2007 on priority axis 2 of the Information Society Operational Programme Development of monument and fund institutions and the renewal of their national infrastructure. The topics under discussion were the digitisation of cultural heritage and the interoperability of information systems in the cultural sector and areas for the preparation and implementation of key projects in the following period. Other areas of cooperation between the Ministry of Culture and other ministries are support for higher education, which is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education (the Ministry of Culture contributes from its grant programme towards the activities of the arts academies), cooperation with the Ministry of Interior in relation to archives (archives in SK-16