On Wednesday 8 April, European Culture Ministers will discuss, via videoconference, how to support the cultural and creative sectors, which have been badly affected by the restrictions linked to the coronavirus pandemic. In particular, they will discuss the Croatian Presidency of the EU Council’s idea to adapt the Creative Europe programme, or even to plan for emergency grants that could be activated immediately after the crisis.
The culture and creative sectors are suffering the full force of the COVID-19 crisis: hundreds of events had to be cancelled due to physical distancing measures taken by many Member States. As a result, many artists and all related trades are left without income. According to an EU Council working document, this situation is likely to have repercussions for the economy as a whole and to penalise micro, small and medium-sized enterprises as well as temporary workers and self-employed artists. The media industry is also likely to suffer because of its heavy dependence on advertising.
In this context, the Croatian Presidency proposes to the European Culture Ministers to detail the measures taken on their territory and to indicate: (1) how this mapping of national measures could best be used; (2) what type of measures (at national and European level) could sustainably support the resilience of these sectors in the short and longer term.
Short- and long-term measures
Among the ideas on the table for the long term, Zagreb mentions employment measures, digital measures and fiscal and financing measures. On the latter, it suggests “the establishment of a specific EU fund to compensate for the loss of income of those who have not had access to unemployment benefits, support for utilities and rent and the introduction of a larger loan guarantee for the cultural and creative sectors”.
The Presidency is also launching a reflection on the contribution that the Creative Europe programme, the EU programme for the audiovisual, creative and cultural sectors, could make. In order to ensure that this can be made available in a timely and financially adequate manner, “independently of current projects”, the Croatian Presidency is putting forward the idea of dedicating a specific component to the crisis linked to COVID-19, in synergy with the other programmes devoted to creative, tourism and co-production divisions. It also puts forward the idea of emergency grants that could be activated immediately after the crisis (guarantee fund/Invest EU, Horizon 2020). (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)