The cultural and creative sectors are among the most severely impacted by the pandemic crisis According to preliminary estimates by Eurostat, the COVID-19 crisis may affect about 7.3 million cultural and creative jobs across the EU. Over 30% of the people affected are self-employed and lack adequate social protection.
The world of arts, culture, heritage and creativity will not be the same after COVID-19. The state of emergency at both local and national level has forced governments to redirect their resources to respond to the most urgent needs at home and this has left little room to address issues on a European scale.
In a joint statement, European Cultural Foundation and Culture Action Europe therefore urge the European Parliament, European Commission and the Member States to recognise cultural and creative sectors as an integral part of the economic, social and environmental recovery plan for Europe within the next Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF 2021-2017), and to support the cultural and creative sector with at least 7% of the Recovery Fund over the first programming years.
Furthermore both organizations plea for mainstreaming culture across the MFF and ensuring that the next Creative Europe programme is strengthened with a doubled financial envelope. Given that Creative Europe does not cover all the needs of the sector, we recall the pledge for 1% for culture across the whole MFF.
Find all other recommendations, a mapping of emergency measures, and a proposal to the European Commission to open up a dialogue with all cultural and creative sectors in this appeal.
Read ECF and CAE joint statement here. To stay updated on our campaign, follow the hashtags #actforculture #cultureneedsmore and #double4culture on social media.
