Brussels  - Culture ministers of the 27-member European Union recently agreed in Brussels to award an EU cultural heritage seal to significant European cultural sites in a bid to promote awareness of a common history.

"It's a matter of pointing out Europe's own, special identity," said Christine Albanel, France's culture minister and current president of the EU Council of Culture Ministers. This was especially important for Europe's young people, she said.

Monuments, regions and memorial sites with "transnational or pan-European character" are to be eligible for the seal. The governmental bodies responsible for sites that receive a seal will be obligated to make them attractive primarily to young people and to promote multilingualism. Participation in the programme is to be voluntary.

A foundation will award the seals, EU diplomats said. EU members France, Greece, Hungary and Spain began a similar programme in 2005 and have awarded 59 cultural heritage seals so far.

In 2009, the European Commission is to propose how those sites should be handled and who should select applicants from across the bloc in future.

The source of funding has not yet been determined. EU diplomats said the bloc could conceivably divert money from its cultural programme for the purpose. (dpa)