The cultural policy of the European Union: the museums of the European parliament

In recent years, the question is posed more frequently about a possibility to create a European idea and what elements compose it. Culture adds to the construction of the shared European identity, having a visible positive effect. Even though the cultural policy of the EU has its history evolving during several decades, only recently under the auspices of the European Parliament they began to materialize the European idea, reflected in the creation of two museums - the Parlamentarium and the House of European History. The study examines different approaches to the cultural policy of the EU and analyses the activity of the museums as elements of this cultural policy. A comparison of the activities of the museums established under the European Parliament reveals trends that will have a positive influence on distribution of shared European values and narrowing the gap between the EU institutions and the citizens of the EU member states.