EUNIC member institute work at arm’s length from policy makers with key competence in language and culture. They also ensure a high level of impact for collective EUNIC actions on behalf of the EC, thereby aiding the Commission in its mission. Through its member institutions and their senior leadership, EUNIC has direct access to the leading institutes and experts of the European cultural sector.
EUNIC operates at two levels:
- At the central level, a president and two vice presidents, elected for a period of one year, administer EUNIC. The Heads of national cultural institutes meet twice yearly in General Assembly. A Global Office in Brussels composed by the director, a network and communication officer and a MENA programme coordinator, implements their policy and decisions.
- In Member States and third countries, local networks called clusters bring together local European cultural institutes who volunteer to take part. To date, over 90 clusters have been formed. The clusters organise a large number of events including conferences, festivals and debates, sometimes with the support of the European delegations. Examples include projects such as European Literature Night, European Languages Day as well as larger initiatives such as the EUNIC China dialogue and the regional project MENA.
EUNIC coordinates the network of clusters and supports their projects or fundraising efforts:
- A support in form of a cluster fund for projects carried out by clusters
- Regional meetings of clusters are organised every two years to provide an opportunity for regional exchanges and pooling of resources
On-going European fund-raising support through pooling of the support functions of cultural institutes, monitoring of European financing and the introduction of training in drawing up European funding application files