On the Future of Europe and Music: EMC Reception

In the wake of the European elections, the European Music Council organised on 18 February 2019 a reception at the European Parliament in Brussels hosted by MEP Axel Voss. The Copyright Directive, the Music Moves Europe Preparatory Action, the upcoming European Parliament elections alongside with the European Agenda for Music (EAM) were at the center of the various discussions. More than 60 music sector stakeholders and representatives from the European Parliament and European Commission were present to discuss the future of Europe and the music sector.

Axel Voss, Member of the European Parliament, is from the Mittelrhein region in Germany which includes Bonn, where the EMC office is located. As rapporteur for the Copyright Directive, Mr. Voss gave an update on the changes made to the Directive in the trilogue negotiations. He encouraged the music sector to voice their support for the Directive. Additionally, he stressed the importance of the European Parliamentary elections from 23-26 May 2019 and urged all EU citizens to use their democratic right to vote.

Michel Magnier, Director for Culture and Creativity in the Directorate-General for Education and Culture (DG EAC) in the European Commission, emphasized the success that has been achieved with the Music Moves Europe initiative so far. He stressed that the European Agenda for Music was a source of inspiration for the further planning of the Structured Dialogue in the frame of Music Moves Europe. He encouraged the music sector to make use of the opportunities that upcoming new calls for proposal from the Music Moves Europe Preparatory Actions will offer.

EMC President Ian Smith and EMC Secretary-General Ruth Jakobi spoke about the European Agenda for Music that was launched in March 2018 and gave examples of how the EAM has been successfully used by organisations in the music sector but also pointed to other initiatives that are working on solutions for some of the identified challenges without a direct connection to the EAM. Many of these will be presented at the “Showcase European Agenda for Music: Share your Story!” in Warsaw from 12-13 June 2019.

Inspired by the CAE EP Elections 2019 Campaign: cultureɘurope, the European Music Council recently launched a campaign for the European Parliamentary elections which was also presented during the reception.

The reception was framed by two performances by accordionist Sara Salvérius who played two of her own compositions.

More available here.