AN INTEGRAL CULTURAL SPACE IN EUROPE AND NEW CHALLENGES FOR ITS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

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Introduction
The most important sign of the beginning of the 2151 century is the increasingly developing transformations in the whole world and all 98 spheres of life. Transformations embody the most important attribute of the modern epoque; therefore, all relevant political, social, economic, technological, ecological and other is-sues should be conceived and approached as issues of transformations. In the process of transformation as well as globalization a society of a new type is being formed, with its typical new values and strivings, which create different patterns of lifestyle and is confronted with new problems and searches for solutions of these problems.
Globalization processes are very explicit in modern Europe. It is quite possible to state that the key-feature of globalization in Europe is the fact that an integral European society is being born, which creates and builds an integral cultural space as well as integral spaces for social, economic, political, technological, ecological and information development.
Creation of the integral cultural space in Europe makes not only preconditions for a basic change in the life environment and conditions of all European nations, but also determines the fact that a brand new quality is being shaped, both of society itself and of each European citizen. On the one hand, the development of the integral cultural space opens a number of new opportunities and perspectives for economic and social advancement in the whole Europe; on the other hand, this process inevitably induces new problems and conflicts, and their solution requires an adequate policy in the sphere of culture.
The formation of the integral cultural space in Europe is a complicated process. One of the main problems to be solved is associated with the so-called equal rights, implying that equal rights should be provided to all social groups, strata and communities in social, economic, political and other areas all over the country, in any region, as well as in public and business sectors.
The awareness of the significance of this problem in the society is important for developing new approaches to the creation of the integral cultural space in Europe and identification of the priorities in achieving it.
The creation of the integral cultural space and the assurance of equal rights in Europe is a significant problem of research. The goal of such research may be defined as updating the society by means of cultural policy aimed at ensuring equal rights to the inhabitants of all European states.
The research into this problem should be closely related to the analysis of transformations that took place in Europe because the latter could allow the identification of changes in the area of equal rights. The relationships between the above processes which took place over the last 15-20 years can be clearly seen in Central and Eastern Europe. This allows us to state that the problem of creating the integral cultural space in Europe should be considered taking into account the general conditions and specific features of transformations which took place in this period.
The paper presents research results obtained by the author, which indicate the emergence of new trends and challenges in the area of creating the integral cultural space in Europe and in the area of economic development in the context of enlargement of the European Union taking account of the need to ensure equal rights to all members of the society.

Integral cultural space in Europe and enlargement of the European Union: the main priorities
The concept of the integral cultural space in Europe is a very important research priority (Melnikas et aI., 2006).
Comprehending the concept of integral culture is essential for business practitioners, especially among those who seek to keep it culturally relevant while increasing sales of pro-ducts and services (Harris, 2004). In general, culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit of and for behaviour acquired and transmitted by symbols constituting the distinctive achievement of human groups, including their embodiment in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional (i. e. historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values; culture systems may, on the one hand, be considered as products of action, and on the other hand as conditioning elements of future action (Cameron, Quinn, 1999;Katsioloudes, 2002). Culture is something that is shared by almost all members of some social group, that the older members of the group try to pass on the younger members and something (as in the case of morals, laws and customs) that shapes behaviour (Fraerman et al., 1996;Hofstede, 2000).
Development of the integral cultural space in Europe not only makes preconditions for basic change in the life environment and conditions of all European nations, but also determines the fact that a brand new quality is being shaped, both of society itself and of each European citizen. The growth of the integral cultural space in Europe is being influenced by a great number of diverse factors. Among these factors as very important appear those related to the expansion of the European Union and to transformation processes in Eastern and Central Europe, meaning that integration of Eastern and Central European countries into the European Union not only indicates the quantitative growth of the European Union (increase in the number of member states, the number of their population, overall territories and economic potential) but also a qualitative transformation in the entire Europe. By the way, this particular consideration that integration of the Eastern and Central European countries is directly influencing quanti-100 tative changes in the entire Europe demonstrates the significance ofthe factors mentioned above to the formation of the integral cultural space in Europe.
The development of the integral cultural space in Europe, taking into account the situation of the integration of the Eastern and Central European countries into the European Union, is a very complex and conflicting process. On the one hand, this process opens a number of new opportunities and perspectives for societal advancement in all E,!rope, including the countries of Eastern and Central Europe. On the other hand, this process inevitably causes new problems and new conflicts, and their solutions require that an adequate policy should be employed, including the sphere of culture. This means that identification of the new challenges for cultural policies and the understanding of the essence of these challenges, as well as the capability to treat them properly make their tasks of a high priority in the situation of the growth of the European Union (Melnikas, 2002).
The importance of the tasks mentioned earlier suggests that theoretical and practical studies designed to better conceive and solve them can be considered as relevant in both the scientific and the practical sense.
The development of the integral cultural space is a striking sign of the contemporary society in Europe, which allows making a complex definition of political, social, economic and technological process development. The integral cultural space in Europe can be perceived as a portmanteau concept. The easiest way is to see the integral cultural space in Europe as a general system of priority values, stereotypes of social behaviour, lifestyle patterns and moral and spiritual standards typical of all layers of the European countries.
Such definition of the integral cultural space demonstrates a very important factor: the integrity of the cultural space can be understood as the affinity of priority values, stereotypes of social behaviour, lifestyle patterns and moral and spiritual standards to all societal layers in all European countries. Thus, it is possible to state that the level of affinity can determine the integrity of the whole cultural space. The more likeness can be seen within the systems of values, behaviour, lifestyle patterns and standards of different countries and societallayers, the more integral can be their common cultural space. And on the contrary: if the systems of values, behaviour, lifestyle patterns and standards of different countries and societallayers do not suggest the idea of common features or suggest the picture of great differences, one may say that the society of these countries does not share the integral cultural space. When giving comments on the concept of the integral cultural space, it is necessary to accentuate several conditions. First, this definition suggests that one might acknowledge the existence of different systems of values, stereotypes of social behaviour, lifestyle patterns and moral and spiritual standards typical of different countries and societallayers. Similarity or affinity of different systems can be comprehended as an assumption of association of different cultural spaces into integral cultural spaces. Next, this definition demonstrates the idea that the integral cultural space conveys the situation where all key-elements of cultural spaces of different countries and societal layer are associated: this means that the main precondition for the integral cultural space formation is a high level of its internal integrity. Then, this definition implies that the integral cultural space creates a situation where specific features of particular countries or societal layers may gradually lose their influence on the further growth of these cultures: the critical role of each country and societal layer development falls on the processes that start inferring as the general processes of the integral cultural space.
Understanding the problems mentioned above allows us to apply the aforementioned concepts of the integral cultural space in the cases when various problems of the European integration and expansion of the European Union arise.
During the development of the integral European cultural space, in the situation of European integration and the growth of the European Union, a great number of various problems related to this development emerge. These problems are very diverse, and they demonstrate a very diverse scale of reasons causing them and a diverse level of their importance; however, it is necessary to consider them when aiming at the consecutive development of processes of the actual integration into Europe.
Among the main problems emanating in the development of the integral cultural space, the following can be identified: 1. Immense cultural differentiation among different countries, regions and social layers: the differentiation of this kind is influenced by too serious differences within their economic development and social status (there are too serious differences among different countries, different regions, and different social, professional, as well as ethnic or confessional groups or layers, both within particular countries or regions and Europe or even the world).
2. Various ethnic, confessional or social conflicts were existing in the history and still are present in some concealed ways; there are many cases in modern Europe when various historically developed conflicts and their relics interfere into the development of the integral cultural space.
3. Disproportion in the momentum of the technological, economic and social, as well as cultural development: technological progress and the growth of economic wellbeing is very often faster than social, cultural and mental changes (disproportion of this character determines the fact that in some societallayers or even countries a certain inadequacy of cultural and spiritual development versus the economic wellbeing and technological opportunities can be observed; this inadequacy provokes a decline of moral norms, deprivation of social accountability and involves other negative consequences.
4. The too deep cultural insularity seen in particular countries and influencing the lack of tolerance to other cultures, individual and group egotism, as well as insufficient capabilities to adapt to intense social and cultural changes: cultural insularity and the lack of tolerance to other cultures does not only affect the development of the integral cultural space, but also provokes social, economic and other sorts of conflicts. 5. In many spheres of societal development there is a lack of administrative capabilities necessary for partnership development and intercultural and multicultural exchange: the policies in the culture are often declaratory and inappropriately oriented towards the basic needs of society, coming forth in the situation of the European integration and the development of the European Union.
It is critical to regard the problems and conflicts that we have discussed here and other problems and conflicts arising or developing in the construction of the integral European cultural space, when we are working on crucial issues of cultural policies related to the further European integration and development of the European Union.

Provision of equal rights as the highest priority in the process of creating an integral cultural space in Europe
The solution of the problem of providing equal rights is an the integral part of the formation of the integral cultural space in Europe.
In an equal rights society, the values and people's views of this idea and its significance make an essential cultural characteristic because the culture of society and the trends of its development largely depend on the treatment and evaluation of the concept of equal rights.
It can be assumed that equal rights as a value are among the highest priorities in society. The implementation of this principle in practice shows the level of societal development and the ability to solve the problems arising in society.
The concept of equal rights may be treated differently. In more general terms it may be described as a situation when the conditions of work and social activity of various people are not affected by the factors not relevant to these activities.
This definition actually implies that when the principle of equal rights is observed, the attitudes to people and the conditions of their work and social activity are determined by the results obtained and the quality of these results rather than by other unrelated issues.
Hence follows that the inequality of human rights is manifested in the evaluation of people and their activities based on some insignificant factors which cannot actually affect the results achieved by these people.
The assessment of the observance of equal rights may be based on various characteristics that may be classified in the following way: 1. The scope of evaluation of equal rights: global, from the perspectives of large civilization, or international area (e. g., Europe or the European Union or its large regions), from the perspective of nations and the societies of various states and countries, from the perspective of regions, agglomerations, towns, settlements and communities, from the perspective of various organizations, from the perspective of various social groups and strata, from the perspective of the family and relatives, from the perspective of an individual. 2. The biological, biosocial, cultural and ethnocultural aspects in assessing equal rights based on the following characteristics of an individual or groups of individuals: sex, demographical characteristics, race, nation, ethnical group, confession, ideological, political views, sexual orientation, ethical and aesthetical views, physical and psychological state, lifestyle in a physical and biosocial sense. 3. Economic, social, professional aspects and status in assessing the observance of equal rights based on the following individual and group characteristics: financial state, area of employment, educational level, profession, social status associated with the membership of some social organization or group, conditions of life and activities. These and other examples demonstrate the variety of approaches to assessing the situation of equal rights.
In considering the prospects of creating an integral cultural space in Europe, the following aspects of equal rights implementation should be emphasized: provision of equal rights to various countries and regions for their social and economic development, provision of equal rights to various ethnic, confessional and social groups and strata, -provision of equal rights to people of various professions engaged in various types of activities, provision of equal rights to men and women. Priority should be given to the above aspects in the cultural space of the whole Europe and Central and Eastern Europe in particular. It is of vital importance for solving various problems associated with European integration and the expansion of the European Union.

Transformations in the East and Central European countries as part of processes of cultural and economic integration in Europe
Modern science understands transformations generally as changes testifying a certain object or system to have acquired a new shape or a new state. This approach is rather universal and can find a great deal of evidence in many scientific studies (Porter, 1980;Dicken, 1998 Transformations in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as processes of the development of the European Union, have been analysed to a very broad and detailed extent. A very broad panorama of changes in the entire, especially Central and Eastern, Europe has been given in scientific publications dedicated to the transformations (Lavingne, 1995;Hotbauer, 2003;Hayo, Seifert, 2003). It is also worthwhile mentioning that within the majority of scientific writings on transformations in Central and Eastern Europe, a certain one-sided emphasis can be observed. Unfortunately, transformations in Central and Eastern Europe are frequently perceived as an exclusive transfer of Western expertise (especially the expertise of Western Europe) to Central and Eastern Europe: in these cases transformations are understood as promotion and implementation of the Western lifestyles in the East, and the plain adaptation of these standards, applying local specificity of the Central and Eastern European countries. Importantly, in many cases the following factor is ignored: transformations in Central and Eastern Europe, and the development of the European Union, make a great influence on the entire European Union and are a crucial factor of changes both in Western Europe and in the whole world (Melnikas, 2002;Melnikas, Reichelt, 2004).
Transformations in Central and Eastern Europe should be perceived as a part of a complex process involving transformations in the entire Europe and the entire world. The main elements of this complex process are the following: • transformations marking the "exit" of the Central and Eastern European 104 countries from the close non-democratic system of the plan economy; these transformations, which occurred over the last 10-15 years, showed readiness of Central and Eastern European countries to join the Western world and "take over" the expertise of the Western world, • transformations marking the "entrance" of the Central and Eastern European countries to the European Union, their adaptation to the further development in the integral space of the Eur9pean Union, as well as adaptation of the entire European Union to the new environment; these currently undergoing transformations show common changes within the increased space of the European Union. This approach allows us to conclude that the development of the integral cultural, as well as political, economic, informational and other space in Europe embraces several key stages including: • transformations in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, prior to the integration of these countries into the European Union, • transformations in the entire European Union, especially in the Central and Eastern European countries that have newly entered the Union (these transformations are intensely happening there). A significant feature of the transformations that took place in Central and Eastern Europe is associated with changes in the area of equal rights. These changes have some conflicting aspects: on the one hand, in the transition period the situation in the area of equal rights was improved because the problems associated with their absence in the time preceding the transformation were solved in many fields, on the other hand, new problems arose in the area of equal rights in the period of transition. These problems indicate the conflicting character of transformations and are also associated with the complicated integration processes in Europe and the expansion of the European Union. An effective approach to solving the newly arising problems in the area of equal rights is the development and implementation of cultural policy aimed at creating an integral cultural space in Europe.
Transformations are particularly important for the states of Central and Eastern Europe. While assessing opportunities and perspectives of the further economic and social growth in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, it is essential to consider a number of factors impelled by political, economic and social transfonnations that took place in these countries over the last years and are still on. Taking into account that transitions indicate a major trend of political, social and economic development of these countries, the states of Eastern and Central Europe are referred to as transition countries.
Political, economic and social development in the transition countries is characterized by some features common to all of these countries as well as by specific features characteristic only of some transition states (Melnikas, 2002). The ability to determine both general and specific features of transformations allows us to define the situation in a particular country, the priorities of its development as well as identifying and solving its most urgent problems (Melnikas, 2005).

Transformations in the "enlarged" European Union and typicalities characteristic of the development of an integral space in the entire European Union
Some typicalities have developed over the recent decades in the integral economic and social space of the entire European Union. Among those, the following could be identified: There is no strict boundary between general and specific typicalities characteristic of the development of an integral economic and social space in the European Union.
As general, can be considered the typicalities that, drawing an analogy in one way or another, have already evolved in the history of the development of other civilizations and cultures. As specific typicalities we can conceive those with the exceptional origin in the European Union, its economic and social space and transformations of this space. It is important to note that among the specific typicalities as most substantial should be respected those that allow revealing the specificity influenced byvarious regional factors, including the countries of the Eastern and Central Europe.
There can be enumerated a great number of genera I typicalities characteristic of the inte-gral economic and social space of the entire European Union. Among those, the following may be considered as the leading ones: 1. Tthe typicality of the priorities of the quantitative growth and qualitative advancement manifests the fact that the development of the economic and social space in the entire European Union is characterised by the two main priorities: quantitative growth (territory; population numbers; accumulated capital; trade and consumer growth) and qualitative advancement (formation of new lifestyles and new multicultural spaces; creation and implementation of modern technologies and organizational patterns in all spheres of life; dissemination of new values and living standards; and rise of new opportunities of further growth). This typicality demonstrates that in the situation of the development of an integral economic and social space of the European Union there forms an integral European civilisation of a new type, completely harmonized with the overall system of the Western civilisation and actively participating in multifaceted co-operation with all modern civilisations and cultures.
2. The typicality of the priorities of democratic attitudes, humanism, human rights and common human values proves that striving to implement the ideals of democracy and humanism is the most intrinsic value towards which the development of the European Union is oriented.
3. The typicality of the increasing complexity of the strncture of multicultural spaces indicates that in the situation of the development and enlargement of the European Union, not only the diversity of the cultures that appear in the space of the European Union increases, but also processes of the increasing complexity of those cultural systems and strnctures occur: new characteristics and dimensions of multicultural spaces develop, which testify to an in-106 crease of the variety of ethnic, confessional, regional, demographic, social, economic, political, ideological, mental and other factors. This trend allows us to state that in the situation of the development and enlargement of the European Union not only the variety of cultural and multicultural spaces inevitably augments, but also qualitatively new problems influenced by this variety arise.
4. The typicality of the balance in general and local factors demonstrates that in the situation of the development and enlargeD!ent of the European Union an integral European civilisation of a new type is forming, which possesses twofold characteristics: first, general characteristics, typical of all spheres of life within the whole space of the European Union; and second, local characteristics, expressing typicalities of different countries, regions and societallayers. Combinations of general and local characteristics make possible to define the adaptability of any local space in the common space of the European Union, at the same time indicating the level of the inner harmony within the multicultural spaces.
5. The typicality of predominant norms and standards implies that in the situation of the development and enlargement of the European Union the uniform norms and standards have been steadily prevailing in the integral economic, social and cultural spaces. This typicality embraces all spheres of societallifeeconomics, business and public administration, social behaviour, political and societallife, as well as people's everyday life and even their private lives. The uniform norms and standards comprise both formal and informal rules for behaviour and act in various life situations, the development and dissemination of values and technologies of interpersonal communication. The origination and increasing dominance of uniform norms and standards is a key precon-dition for a gradual development of the integral and undivided European civilisation and culture, where general characteristics have already been prevailing, if compared to national, regional or local characteristics of other kinds.
6. The typicality of non-synchronous development suggests that in the situation of the development and enlargement of the European Union more and more uneven changes emerge. As is known, societal development and headway, and the processes occurring in society may evolve in the form of various discrepancies. These discrepancies may be very diverse, including discrepancies in the pace of the development:" they vary from country to country, from region to region; they appear to differ in different sectors of economic and social life and different societallayers. Discrepancies in changes may cause conflicts and issues of different kind.
7. The typicality of cyclical development based on the "wave" principle refers to the fact that all processes of the development of the European Union are undergoing cycles: each cycle includes a certain stage of development, that can be outlined by both quantitative and qualitative changes. This means that the transition of these stages can be compared to certain "waves" where each wave witnesses the stepping stone of the potential of the European Union as an integral economic and social space.
8. The typicality of increasing differentiation and differentiation variety shows that in the situation of the expansion of the European Union, within the integral economic and social space, new manifestations of differentiation occur, and the range of differentiation expands. It is especially notable for the reason that in the actual routine of the development and expansion of the European Union a rather substantial contradiction appears: on the one hand, following political declarations, it is sought to align regional structures which by the level of their development are rather unequal; economic sectors or societal layers; on the other hand, a real "alignment" is of a limited scale and applies only to particular spheres of social and economic life. It is quite probable that the actual differentiation is generally increasing: various discrepancies among different regions, economic sectors and societal layers deepen, within actual opportunities for improvement and modernisation, as well as actual wellbeing and social security. This factor is essential in estimating the prospects of stability and internal security in the space of the European Union.
9. The typicality of balance of centripetal and centrifugal forces in the situation of the development and expansion of the European Union is seen in the simultaneous manifestation of two opposite tendencies: on the one hand, it is a tendency of striving to enter a common system, expressing the priority of obedience to the system; and on the other hand, a tendency of striving to strengthen the sovereignty and autonomy in the common system, expressing the priority of the self-assurance of personal wellbeing at the expense of the system. Those two tendencies are advantageous for the wellbeing of the European Union, provided they are mutually well balanced; such balance, in turn, may have different manifestations, including a rational combination of basics of centralisation, decentralisation and self-government in the systems of the managing and administering processes of expansion and development. (It is noteworthy that in cases when the balance among the centripetal and the centrifugal forces fails, more threats for the performance of the entire system emerge: the disproportionate prevalence of the centripetal forces may lead to inefficient management and determine the loss of adap-tability skills in the ever-changing environment, whereas the disproportionate prevalence of centrifugal forces impels fragmentation and selfdestruction of the system itself. This means that vulnerability of the balance mentioned above is a very dangerous and undesirable matter).
10. The typicality of predominance of traditionalleaders proposes that in the situation of the development and expansion of the European Union the priority interests to be implemented are those developing in greater countries of Western Europe, such as, first, Germany and France (these countries have historically formed as traditional leaders of the European Union). Despite the fact that in the situation of the development and enlargement of the European Union one can observe a great variety of concerns of different countries, regions and layers of society (moreover, this variety causes internal disagreements within the European Union), the prevalence of traditionalleaders and their concerns is long-lasting and steady. By the way, the concerns of the traditional leaders play as a key factor in the development of norms and standards typical of the space of all the European Union.
11. The typicality of the expansion potential expresses the idea that the European Union as an integral system has been increasingly operating within the global economic, social, cultural, informational and political spaces. With this regard, the increasing expansion of the European Uniori as an integral system towards the spheres of the world economies and the process of the entire political, social and economic development.
12. The typicality of the adaptability in the consistently changing external and internal environment suggests that in the situation of the development and enlargement of the European Union multifaceted processes of adaptation arise: the new member states of the European Union need to adapt in the space of the European Union new to them, whereas the "old" members of the European Union have to adapt to the "enlarged" the European Union and "accept" new members as equal partners; besides, all European Union as an integral system needs to adapt to the consistently changing external environment. All this allows us to admit that adaptability is a crucial precondition for the further development of the European Union as an integral system. The typicalities described above, ch~acte ristic of the development and enlargement of the European Union as an integral system, within the group of typicalities of this kind could be considered as most important. At the same time, among those very important and critical, several specific typicalities exist.
Specific typicalities characteristic of the development and enlargement of the European Union as an integral system are multifaceted. Some of these typicalities reflect on the specificity of a particular epoque, whereas the others express the specificity of particular regions, spheres of social and economic development or certain layers of society.
Among the specific typicalities expressing the cu"ent era, most notable are the following: 1. The typicality of regulated and controlled liberalisation that reveals rather contradictory processes typical of the current development of the European Union. A key feature of these processes is the following: on the one hand, traditions of liberal democracy have been increasingly implemented in society and there are apparent signs of economic liberalisation; on the other hand, both in economic and social life the "masked autocracy" has been observed, which is executed by various forms of increased bureaucracy, the growing regulation and limitation of activities in different spheres, along with the increasing austere rules.
In the modern world, in many spheres of life one can observe a substantial decline of the norms and ideals of liberalism, despite its "formal" promotion or declaration. We may admit that in the modem European Union a new kind of society has been increasingly developing, with both liberalism and social awareness, where, however, liberalism will be regulated and controlled with the increasing power: every subject of any activity in all spheres of life will have opportunities of liberal choice and self-determination with increasing boundaries and decreasing "degree" offreedom. (It is a paradox that in the modern European Union, in the situation of promotion of liberal values, bureaucratic and clerical arguments of the societal development have been strongly increasing, and new trends of centralised management emerge, manifested in many spheres of political, social and economic life).
2. The typicality of promotion and predominance of the concems of large economic subjects demonstrates that both in the overall situation of globalisation and in the specific economic and social space ofthe European Union, the processes of concentration of economic activities are steadily happening. The actual situation in both the economic space of the European Union and the global markets has been increasingly influenced by activities and opportunities of large economic subjects (here we consider as large economic subjects those large enterprises that operated in international markets, networks and organisations of small and medium enterprises, and various international corporations and international economic organisations). In the situation of the development and enlargement of the European Union, more and more obvious becomes the promotion and predominance of the concerns of large economic subjects: on the one hand, this situation reinforces the competitive abilities of economic sub-jects representing the economic spaces of the European Union; on the other hand, opportunities to develop free competition and initiative are violated (the violations of this kind have been increasingly growing, although public policy in the economies of the European Union proclaims provisions for free competition and initiative support).
3. The typicality of the declining role of the state as a structure in the organization of society indicates that in the situation of the development and enlargement of the European Union, in national countries the state as a key organisational structure for any society of any country is increasingly losing its previous importance and a number of opportunities to immediately influence the situation in the country. In the environment of the development and enlargement of the European Union, the situation in its member states has been steadily influenced by overall processes of development and enlargement of the European Union as a system, on the one hand, and the potential, development and growth of the non-governmental, non-state and private sectors. The declining role of states has been determined by such processes as development of a common economic and social space in the European Union, where the principles of liberal labour force mobility, capital mobility and product and services mobility are implemented; moreover, the increasing enhancement of globalisation, and international economic, cultural and informational relations have been also influencing the overall decline of the significance of particular states. 4. The typicality of manifestation of threats and issues of a new kind allows us to conceive that each stage of the development and enlargement of the European Union reveals new threats and causes new issues that are determined by various factors of moral, the ideologi-cal, cultural, political, social, economic, ecological, military and informational character. The ability to immediately understand these threats and issues, as well as to develop and implement effective means of their prevention in the modern situation in principle expresses the typicality of the development and enlargement ofthe European Union.
The analysis of the typicalities described above is very important for creating a modern economy in the European Union.

Priorities of cultural policies to be implemented in the East and Central European countries
Integration of the Eastern and Central European countries into the European Union does not only show the growth of the European Union, but also characterizes the core transformation of the entire European cultural space. This means that an important outcome of the transformations in Eastern and Central Europe has been the fact that integration of new countries into the European Union gives an impulse for development of an integral cultural space of the entire Europe. Based on this approach towards transformations, two key priorities of cultural policies can be defined: • cultural policies that are designed to popularize on a mass scale and affirm the progressive values of humanism and democracy, stereotypes of social behaviour, as well as lifestyle patterns and standards of moral and spiritual life in the Eastern and Central European countries; • cultural policies that are designed to guarantee that traditional Western European society is able to consider the Eastern and Central European society as equal and compatible with the norms of Western culture and lifestyles, and the progressive historical and cultural experiences of the Eastern and Central European countries and their elitist spheres are integrated into the overall system of the European cultural system.
For the sake of the implementation of these two priorities on the pan-European scale, special programmes of a complex character should be introduced: 1. Programmes of cultural heritage preservation, conservation and actualization of all European countries, regions, as well as ethnic, confessional and other groups and layers: the programmes of such kind should ensure that the culture of each country, region as well as ethnic, confessional or other social groups and the layers preserve elements comprising the uniqueness of each of these countries in the context of basic norms and standards of the European cultural space. These programmes should embrace a broad panorama of diverse spheres of culture and art (cultural heritage in architecture and urbanism, use of different languages and dialects, visual art, theatre, music, literature and other spheres), as well as knowledge of history and the past, ethnography, traditions of trade and professional activities, traditions of interpersonal communication, community and social life, and traditions of attitude to nature (by the way, special attention should be paid to the heritage of vulnerable and fragile cultures of nations or groups with a small or diminishing number of citizens). These programmes should be developed and implemented applying various means of science, education, mass media, culture and art organization, and law, economics or even politics.
2. Programmes for integrated European dimension adaptation in various cultural spaces: such programmes should address coexistence of various cultures and their reciprocal harmonization, ensuring universal cultural tolerance and mutual understanding. The central goal of these programmes is to achieve that the basic standards of European culture become a priority to every European citizen, and within the integral European cultural space there should prevail general integrated characteristics, norms and dimensions typical of all cultures ofthe European countries, regions, ethnic, confessional or other social groups or layers. It is important to note that one of the core dimensions of the integral Europe is a genuine respect to all cultures of all countries, regions, social groups and layers: this dimension is principal when ensuring opportunities to achieve a synergy effect based on the symbiosis, integration and synthesis of various cultures. It is obvious that all programmes of this kind should cover the whole Europe and the means of a very broad spectrum.
3. Programmes for elimination of unacceptable factors within humanism and democracy: first of all, these are programmes designed to prevent non-humanistic and non-democratic manifestations, as well as programmes designed to adopt ideals of humanism, high morale, human rights and freedom and social accountability; they should include prevention of such phenomena as violence or wrong habits, etc. All programmes of this kind should be executed with the complex use of the entire potential of the administration of the states, their education, scientific and mass media systems. The programmes should include in their strategies the strengthening of moral and legal responsibility for the actions that do not conform to the standards of humanism and democracy, fight against approval of these actions or inadequate prevention. It is absolutely critical to achieve that within the integrated European cultural space the cultural mechanisms should develop to dismiss any possibility to emerge, show or spread inappropriate conduct (a propos, nowadays in the whole Europe, especial-ly in the Eastern and Central Europe, cases of fascist and nationalist feelings arise; this factor should be assessed as a real threat to the further integration of Europe; therefore, an intense combat against actions ofthis kind should be performed employing all cultural policy, legal and administrative means. The above programmes, along with other programmes meant to be implemented in the whole Europe, could be assessed as an important precondition for creating an integral European cultural space in the environment of European integration and the expansion ofthe European Union.
The further development and implementation of programmes of this kind should encourage the creation of a new society and provide preconditions for the further cultural, economic and social progress.

Conclusions
The central indicator of the processes of integration and political, social, economic development is the creation of an integrated cultural space in Europe, which is strongly influenced by many factors, including the expansion of the European Union, especially the integration of the Eastern and Central European countries.
The integral cultural space in Europe is defined as a general system of priority values, stereotypes of social behaviour, lifestyle patterns and moral and spiritual standards typical of all layers of the European countries where the integrity of the cultural space might be understood as the affinity of different systems that can be comprehended as an assumption for association of different cultural spaces into integral cultural spaces.
The processes of developing an integral cultural space in Europe are very complex and controversial, franght with various problems and conflicts, which cause a real threat for the further process of the European integration and the expansion of the European Union; therefore, special attention should be paid to the solution of these problems and conflicts.
To encourage the creation of an integral cultural space in Europe, the appropriate cultural policies are necessary to be implemented in the entire Europe. These policies may embrace many priorities, including: • preservation of cultural diversity of all European countries, as well as ethnic, confessional or other social groups or layers; heritage preservation of these countries, and the further integration of these cultures into the overall process of cultural development; • adaptation and dissemination of the integrated European dimensions in the whole Europe; • elimination of inappropriate factors within humanism and democracy.
Priorities of cultural policies are especially important for the East and Central European countries, and for a better implementation of these priorities we propose initiating a complex research and diverse scientific and educational projects.
Considering the problems of creating an integral cultural space in Europe, emphasis should be placed on the provision of equal rights.
The attitudes to the significance of the principle of equal rights characterize the society and its culture, while the attitudes to this aspect as a priority reflect the system of values of society. This means that when creating an integral cultural space, the attitudes to the value and implementation of equal rights should be coordinated. A significant consideration is orientation of these attitudes to the democratic and humanistic values.
The creation of an integral cultural space in Europe requires comprehensive investigation. Research into this problem, especially in political and administration areas, is very promising.

Summary
The processes of the creation and development of an integral cultural space in Europe and the new challenges for the economic development are analysed and discussed.
The paper aims to evaluate the main features of the creation and development of an integral culturai space in Europe and the main problems of eeoDomie development in the context of the enlargement of the European Union and in the contexl of the transition processes in Central and Eastern Europe.
The author has used the outcomes of the research done over the recent severai years, dedicated to the diagnostics of the problems of transformations as weil as eeoDomie and social development in Central and Eastern Europe with a special reference to the development of an integraI culturai space and human rights in the contexl of economic development in the European Union.
Creation of an integraI culturaI spaee in Europe makes nat only preconditions for basic change in life environment and conditions of all European nations, but also determines the fact that a brand new quality is being shaped, both of the society itselt and of each European citizen. On the one band, the development of an integraI culturaI spaee opens a number of new opportunities and perspectives for economic and social advancement in the whole Europe; on the other hand, this proeess inevitably causes new problems and conflicts, and their solution requires the creation and inclusion of an adequate policy in the sphere of culture.

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The formation of an integrai cultural space in Europe is a complicated process. One of the main problems to be solved is associated with the so-called equal rights, implying that equal rights should be provided to all social groups, strata and communities in social, eeoDomje, politkal and other areas all over the country, in any region, as weIl as in public and business sectors.
The awareness of the significance of this problem in the society is important for developing new approaches to the creation of the integrai culturaI space in Europe and identification of the priorities in achieving it.
An integral culturaI space in Europe is defined as a general system of priority values, stereotypes of social behaviour, lifestyle patterns and marai and spiritual standards, typical to all layers of the European countries where the integrity of the cultural space might be understood as the affinity of different systems that can be comprehended as an assumption for association of different cultural spaces into integral cultural spaees.
The major findings shaw that the creation and development of an integrai culturaI spaee in Europe is a very complex and controversial process and in this course various problems and conflicts arise. Therefore, to encourage the creation of an integral cul-turaI space in Europe appropriate culturai policies are necessary to be implemented.