investment in cultural diplomacy

At the international level, the EU cooperates with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco). It is a party to the Unesco 2005 convention on cultural diversity. The EU also cooperates with the Council of Europe (CoE) on cultural routes that cross the whole continent, with tourist paths following cultural heritage sites according to chosen themes. The EU and CoE also co-organise Europe-wide Heritage Days, a highly popular annual event that allows more than 20 million Europeans to visit sites that are often usually closed to the public.
Despite these positive aspects and the cultural attractiveness of the EU, investment at the EU level in cultural diplomacy to promote European culture does not match the levels of the US and China. Efforts are nevertheless made; EU film festivals abroad, for example, present a selection of films from different EU countries and thus enhance the knowledge of European cinematographic diversity as compared to festivals of national productions presented abroad.