France's Presidency of the Council of the European Union is known simply as the FPEU. With each Member State taking it in turn, the FPEU is a rare opportunity that will not come around again for another 13 years. Since 1995, France has held the Presidency of the European Union three times (in 1995, 2000 and 2008). In 2022, it will start a new cycle, working as a trio with the Czech Republic in the second half of 2022 and Sweden in the first half of 2023. 

The Council of the European Union brings together the Ministers of the 27 Member States. During the FPEU, France is therefore responsible for chairing these meetings, monitoring the legislative agenda and pushing forward actions that fall within the EU's areas of activity. It is also responsible for initiating dynamics around general orientations and priorities. The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, will present France's priorities before the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 19 January 2022. 

Culture will occupy a prominent place in the work that France will carry out during its Presidency. Since its creation, the Institut français has been working to strengthen the European dimension of France's cultural activity, implementing European cultural cooperation projects co-financed by the European Union. Given this expertise, the Institut is naturally involved in the FPEU and will reinforce the impact and visibility of its activities on a European scale.

Throughout Europe, the Institut français is carrying out a variety of activities dedicated to the FPEU. Inside the buildings of the European institutions in Brussels, in all the Member States of the European Union, or online on social networks, European citizens can observe and be part of this important event. 

At the heart of the Council of the European Union in Brussels, the Institut français is supporting a collaborative work entitled l’Étoffe de l’Europe™. This tapestry serves as the connecting thread of the project, bringing together the colours of the flags of the 27 member countries of the European Union and embodying the collective construction of this organisation. It also symbolises the strong bond between the countries of the European Union. 

Deployed in several forms and on several scales through the spaces of the Justus Lipsius and Europa buildings, Étoffe de l’Europe™ brings together the digital and ecological issues to which the French Presidency wishes to associate its governance. The Étoffe de l’Europe concept has inspired Jacques Perconte and Jeanne Goutelle, two French artists who are weavers in their own way: of digital landscapes emerging from European landscapes in the first case, and screens and alcoves made from waste from the French textile industry in the second. 

The French art scene will also be represented with an exhibition of works by young artists based in Belgium. The exhibition will be curated by Lola Meotti, associate curator of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Visuels de La Cambre.

The project as a whole offers a European showcase for the collections of the Mobilier National and the creations by leading French designers and publishers such as Philippe Nigro, Olivier Gagnère, Ligne Roset and Maximum. 

As it has done every year since 2016, the Night of Ideas invites all places of culture (bookshops, universities, schools, museums, cinemas, libraries, etc.) to celebrate the circulation of ideas between countries, cultures, disciplines and generations throughout the world. This year, this major event offers a unique format in the countries of the European Union: through the night of 27 January 2022, personalities from the arts, literature, sciences and commitment will assemble around the theme of "(Re)building Together" for festive meetings and public debates. These discussions can be attended in person or will of course be broadcast live.

In France, the Night of Ideas will include an exceptional evening at the Collège de France attended by 54 young people from the 27 member countries of the European Union. Committed to various fields such as the environment or gender equality, they will debate the future of Europe. 

The Institut français is proposing a project to promote multilingualism and foreign language learning in Europe by creating a communication campaign for social networks, aimed at the 26 diplomatic posts of the European Union and made available to the European counterparts of the EUNIC network. It can also be relayed by the cultural network around the world, thus helping to give an international resonance to the FPEU. 

The kit will make it possible to approach the multilingual dynamic in a motivating and encouraging way, by addressing young people in particular. It will be made available in February 2022. 

The France-Portugal Season, to be launched in mid-February 2022, is part of the Portuguese and French presidencies of the European Union (Portugal's rotating presidency in the first half of 2021 and France's in the first half of 2022). It is an opportunity to highlight the proximity and friendship that binds our two countries, embodied in particular by the presence in France of a very large Luso-descendant community, and in Portugal of a growing number of French expatriates, two dynamic, mobile and active communities that constitute an exceptional human and cultural bond between our two countries.

A rich programme will showcase French and Portuguese talent and will be accessible to all in many cultural venues throughout the two countries. 

Historic places in the construction of European public spaces and for reading the press, various heritage cafés throughout Europe will host public meetings on the morning of 5 March 2022. The event, entitled Café Europa, will be structured around debates moderated by young student journalists from each country. The discussions will examine the technological, economic and political challenges facing the press in the European Union.

More information to follow. 

On the occasion of the second edition of the Reflecting Residencies international symposium, to be held on 2 and 3 June 2022 at the Carreau du Temple in Paris, the Institut français is renewing its support for Arts in Residence - National Network.

One of the four round tables will be devoted to residency programmes in Europe, their specificities and perspectives, particularly in relation to reflections on the status of the artist. 

More information to follow.