Investing in Europe’s Next Generation

by Investing in Culture


As the EU has started discussing the proposed recovery plan, 94 organisations from across Europe’s cultural and creative sectors are uniting their voices to alert EU leaders: our sector needs strong and systemic support measures to recover from this crisis.

As it is now well understood, the cultural and creative world is one of the first and hardest hit by the crisis. According to the Commission’s own estimates, some parts of our sector – which accounts for €509bn in value added to GDP and over 12 million full-time jobs – are expected to lose up to 80% of their turnover in the 2nd quarter of 2020.

We have a higher than average percentage of self-employed workers, freelancers, micro-businesses and youth employment, which makes us particularly vulnerable in times of crisis.

As the European economy is slowly restarting, it is far from business as usual. Cultural actors are gradually resuming their activities, but all have to implement strict safety rules which means they won’t be operating at full capacity for the foreseeable future and are therefore facing challenging economic decisions. From individual creators and creative workers all the way to big production and media companies, the whole value chain is impacted.

And yet the recovery package announced by the Commission on 27 May does not reflect the reality of the cultural and creative sector, despite the encouraging messages by the Commission and the strong position taken by the European Parliament. The proposal on the table falls way short of our sector’s expectations:

  • Despite being identified as one of 14 of the hardest hit ecosystems, there is neither a sector specific instrument for culture, nor a clear indication on whether or how we can benefit from different instruments. The section on REACT-EU in the Commission’s Communication refers to culture, but there is no guarantee that we will receive appropriate support.
  • As for Creative Europe, the EU’s only programme specifically dedicated to the cultural and creative sector, the Commission’s announcement is a missed opportunity and a real disappointment. Along with the budget dedicated to education and youth, the budget dedicated to culture is the only one to decrease compared to the Commission’s own 2018 proposal, and it is a far cry from the European parliament’ position[1] . Quite ironic for a recovery plan named “Next Generation EU”.

To bring the EU’s support for our sector to a level that is commensurate with its contribution to the EU’s economy and its citizens’ wellbeing, we call on Member States and the European Parliament:

  • To push for a substantial increase of the Creative Europe budget. We fully support the European Parliament’s proposal for a budget of €2.8bn.
  • To guarantee that the entire sector can benefit appropriately from the recovery plan’s various instruments.

Let’s invest in culture to show the EU’s #NextGeneration

that we really care about their future!


[1] The European Commission is proposing €1.5bn for Creative Europe (€1.7 in 2018 prices) while it proposed 1.85bn in 2018 (€1.6bn in today’s prices).


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Signatories:

1. AEPO ARTIS – Association of European Performers’ Organisations

2. AER – Association of European Radios 3. Animation Europe

4. BOZAR – Centre for Fine Arts Brussels

5. CALLIAS Foundation

6. CEDC – European Coalitions for Cultural Diversity

7. CEM – Centre Européen de Musique

8. CEPI – European Audiovisual Production

9. CEPIC – Centre of the Picture Industry

10. CICAE – International Confederation of Arthouse Cinemas

11. CIRCOSTRADA – European Network for Circus & Street Arts

12. De Concert!

13. EAS – European Association for Music in Schools

14. ECSA – European Composer and Songwriter Alliance

15. EDN – European Dancehouse Network

16. EFA – European Festivals Association

17. EFFORTS – The European Federation of Fortified Sites

18. EFJ – The European Federation of Journalists

19. EFNYO – European Federation of National Youth Orchestras

20. EFP – European Film Promotion

21. EGDF – European Games Developer Federation

22. EHTTA – European Historic Thermal Towns Association

23. EIBF – European and International Booksellers Federation

24. EJN – Europe Jazz Network

25. ELIA – Globally Connected European Network of Higher Arts Education

26. EMC – European Music Council

27. EMCY – European Union of Music Competitions for Youth

28. EMEE – European Music Exporters Exchange

29. EMMA – European Magazine Media Association

30. EMMA – European Music Managers Alliance

31. EMU – The European Music School Union

32. ENCATC – European network on cultural management and cultural policy

33. ENCC – European Network of Cultural Centres

34. ENPA – European Newspaper Publishers Association

35. EOFed – European Orchestra Federation

36. EPC – European Publishers Council

37. ERIH – The European Route of Industrial Heritage

38. ESNS – Eurosonic Noorderslag

39. ETC – European Theatre Convention

40. Eurocinema

41. Europa Distribution – The European Network of Independent Film Publishers and Distributors

42. Europa International – the network of European sales agents

43. Europavox : music online media & festivals

44. ECA – European Choral Association – Europa Cantat

45. EVA – European Visual Artists

46. EWC – European Writers’ Council

47. FEDEC – European Federation for Professional Circus Schools

48. FERA – Federation of European Film Directors

49. FEP – Federation of European Publishers

50. FIA – International Federation of Actors

51. FIAD – The International Federation of Film Distributors’ Associations

52. FIAPF – International Federation of Film Producers Associations

53. FIM – International Federation of Musicians

54. FSE – Federation of Screenwriters in Europe

55. GESAC – European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers

56. GIGMIT

57. IAMIC – International Association of Music Information Centres

58. IAML – International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres, member of EMC

59. IAO – International Artist Organisation of Music

60. ICMP – The Global Voice of Music Publishing

61. IETM – International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts

62. IFJ – International Federation of Journalists

63. IFPI – International Federation of the Phonographic Industry

64. IFRRO – International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations

65. IGCAT – International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism

66. IMMF – International Music Managers Forum

67. IMPALA – The Independent Music Companies Association

68. IMPF – The Independent Music Publishers International Forum

69. IMZ – IMZ International Music + Media Centre

70. In-Situ – European Platform for Artistic Creation in Public Space

71. INES – Innovation Network of European Showcases

72. ISCM – International Society for Contemporary Music on behalf of the

73. ISFE – The Interactive Software Federation of Europe

74. IVF – International Video Federation

75. Live DMA – European network for live music venues & festivals

76. Liveurope – The live music platform for new European talent

77. KEA European Affairs

78. MCA – Michael Culture Association

79. NAMM – National Association of Music Merchants

80. NEMO – The Network of European Museum Organisations

81. News Media Europe

82. On the Move

83. Pearle* – Live Performance Europe

84. REMA – European Early Music Network

85. Res Artis – Worldwide Network of Arts Residencies

86. SAA – Society of Audiovisual Authors

87. SEEHN – South East European Heritage Network

88. SHAPE – Sound, Heterogeneous Art and Performance in Europe

89. Sistema Europe – The Sistema Europe Association

90. Tenso Network Europe

91. UNI MEI – UNI global union – media, entertainment & arts

92. UNIC – International Union of Cinemas

93. We Are Europe

94. Yourope – The European Festival Association