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In the coming weeks, around 400 million people will be called to vote to choose their representatives in the European Parliament; We analyse the political plans of the main candidate parties to outline what the operations of businesses and professionals in the cultural and creative sector will look like over the next five years. From the Green Europe Party, which includes the sector in the New Green Deal, to the European People’s Party, which promotes cultural rights as an integration tool, from the European Left, which calls for a further integration of feminist positions, to the Democratic Party, which, on the contrary, sees that it wants to strengthen the creative economy market; However, a dedicated chapter is missing from the platform of the Party of European Socialists, as well as from the manifestos of the European Conservatives and Reformists, which focus on national sovereignty without detailing concrete plans for cultural policy.
In short, cultural issues are receiving unprecedented political attention, albeit in lip service rather than as a priority. This is an important change of pace, closely linked to the geopolitical turmoil affecting Europe, and requires the identification of new diplomatic and international cooperation tools.
Indeed, during the last political mandate, the interest of European institutions has grown, which has translated into Significant increase in resources in multi-year budgets Aims to define interim policies for the cultural sector, its markets and professionals, based on The latest survey results from Eurostat It has 7.7 million employees, about 3.8% of the European total.
Working conditions for artists
Issues related to working conditions for artists are among the most frequently discussed cultural issues by European political parties, and are mentioned in the manifestos of the Green Europe Party, the European Left and the Democratic Party. Although the topic is not new, UNESCO already published a recommendation on the conditions of artists in 1980 (Recommendation on the Status of Artists: Promoting the Professional, Social and Economic Rights of Artists), there is no doubt that Europe has begun to take this issue seriously after the Covid-19 emergency, in short, the member states are striving to include in state aid a working class about which they know little.
In fact, the electoral recommendations made are based on research findings “The current situation and working conditions of artists and cultural and creative workers” The European Commission hopes EU Cultural Work Programme 2019-2022 It is precisely to define common minimum standards to improve the conditions of artists in four macro-areas: their legal status, labour and tax policies for transnational mobility, social security systems, skills and artistic freedom. In a previous study on the subject (2020) by the European Commission, Unstable Become one Distinctive features of the industry The standard employment model leaves room for precarious, even informal forms of employment, which often hide sanctioned forms of exploitation, where a person is forced to work double or even triple jobs. In fact, another characteristic of cultural work is the very high number of freelancers. Latest data from Eurostat,percentage Individual cultural workers It is much higher (32%) than the total employment in the economy (14%), and the purchasing power of workers alone is very low due to the lack of professional associations to protect this category.
A further limitation concerns the rise of digital platforms and the resulting difficulty in monetizing creativity. In this sense, it is hoped that Directive (EU) 2019/790 The regulation of copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market strengthens the position of creators. In short, while many of the challenges raised in the report require political intervention at national level, there is a clear need for a European regulatory framework that encourages Member States to adopt measures that are adapted to the particularities of artists.
Digital Museum of European Culture
A unique theme was raised by the European People’s Party, which in its manifesto supported the creation of digital museums to strengthen a common European identity. In this regard, it should be remembered that the EU has provided funding for the development of digital museums through the European Connectivity Fund. Europeanthe European Digital Library, already brings together the digital contributions of 27 national institutions. Launched on 20 November 2008 by the European Commission with an annual contribution of €6.5 million, the platform currently offers access to more than 58 million digital records of cultural heritage (books, films, paintings, newspapers, sound archives, maps, manuscripts and archives) from more than 3,600 cultural institutions and organisations. In addition, last April 30, Europeana launched the new “European Cultural Heritage Space”, publishing the results of the “Twin it!” 3D for European Culture” campaign, which invited the 27 Ministries of Culture of the European Union to select and send 3D digitised cultural heritage assets. This is an initiative funded by the Digital Europe programme with an investment of €4 million and announced in 2021 Recommendation C (2021) Resolution 7953 encourages Member States to digitize monuments and sites at risk of deterioration by 2030. European Cultural Heritage CloudThe program will receive investments of approximately 110 million euros by 2024 European HorizonIt will help strengthen links between cultural heritage institutions and professionals across the EU and promote cooperation and innovation in the digitization, research and protection of cultural heritage assets.
2% of cultural agreement
The European Left and Democratic Party’s manifesto resumes European Cultural Agreement This is the initiative launched by European Cultural Action, the European Culture Fund and Europa Nostra in November 2020 during the financial negotiations for the National Recovery and Resilience Plans (PNRR). It was proposed to allocate at least 2% of the funds to the cultural and creative sectors, aiming to transform it into a strategic instrument for the use of Next Generation EU funds. The proposal would have raised 12 billion euros across Europe between 2021 and 2026, but it was never accepted. However, during the European elections, the same proposing body revived the plan through an open letter. In addition to the 2% target, the letter called for greater control over the market sectors where the cultural and creative industries are located.
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