Sposób podejścia do sfery kultury w stanowiskach Rady Unii Europejskiej

This article attempts to explain the understanding of culture which form the basis of the EU’s cultural policy as well as to present changes in that regard occurring along with the development of this policy. The research material consisted of common positions of the EU member states adopted during meetings of the Council of the European Union. The research was done using qualitative content anal sis. The most general conclusion from the research is that the basis of the EU’s cultural policy since the beginning of the researched period have consisted of two different approaches to culture in the EU: cultural unity and cultural diversity. Moreover, the creators of the EU’s cultural policy understood the role of culture in the integration process in four ways: as a non-instrumental value, a sociocreative factor, an economic factor as well as a factor enhancing the external relations of the EU. During the researched period we observed certain changes regarding the approach towards culture. They involved either changes within the already existing ideas or creating new concepts concerning the cultural sphere.