The European Commission is currently examining the possibility of introducing changes to Creative Europe’s guarantee facility to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on the cultural and creative sectors. This is what Commissioner Mariya Gabriel (Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth) said at the end of a video conference between culture ministers on Wednesday 8 April.
This ministerial meeting, organised by the Croatian Presidency of the Council, looked at examining the measures implemented by the Member States to mitigate the negative effects of the crisis, as well as the measures that should be taken at European level (see EUROPE 12463/11).
It launched two new exchange platforms, one for Member States to notify measures taken in their territory and facilitate the exchange of best practices, and the other for the industry to identify measures at its disposal to mitigate the effects of the crisis. At the press conference, the Croatian Minister of Culture, Nina Obuljen Koržinek, confirmed that the next Council for Culture would take place in May as planned, without indicating whether it would take place in Brussels or by video conference.
Range of measures
The ministerial exchange of views took place behind closed doors, but the Croatian Presidency of the Council and Commissioner Mariya Gabriel held a press conference in the early evening. This was an opportunity for the Commissioner to recall that discussions on the European budget dedicated to culture (the Creative Europe programme and its Media sub-programme) from 2021 were still blocked.
During her speech, Mariya Gabriel also highlighted the various measures emanating from the Creative Europe programme which made it possible to help the cultural and creative sector, “one of the sectors most severely affected by the pandemic”, her Croatian colleague pointed out.
Therefore, she mentioned: - an extension of the deadlines for current projects; - clear instructions for Creative Europe's managers on the use of the 'force majeure' clause; - special measures for the cinema, with an additional allocation of €5 million in the form of vouchers for the most affected branches; - support systems for virtual and digital mobility, in particular through a new call for proposals for €2 million in early May; - an acceleration of selection procedures, in particular for the literary translation programme; - an acceleration of the evaluation of 2020 cooperation projects; - the search, with Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton, for ways to adapt the guarantee facility for the cultural and creative sectors to mitigate the effects of the crisis. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)