Prominent European creators sign “A call to invest in all our creative futures"
The creators detail in an op-ed signed by leading European creatives the devastating effects the COVID-19 crisis has had on the creative sector and call on EU leaders to “be bold”, to rethink current pledges and invest more in creativity and the arts.
14 July 2020
PRESS RELEASE
Prominent European creators sign
“A call to invest in all our creative futures"
Brussels, 14 July, 2020 – Below is an op-ed signed by leading European creatives. In the op-ed, the creators detail the devastating effects the COVID-19 crisis has had on the creative sector and call on EU leaders to “be bold”, to rethink current pledges and invest more in creativity and the arts.
This op-ed is especially pertinent given the meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on 17-18 July, where the EU recovery plan and budget will be the main topics on the agenda.
A full list of names can be seen below the letter but some prominent names from across Europe include: singer Björk, electronic music pioneer Jean Michel Jarre, film director Agnieszka Holland, conceptual visual artist Daniel Buren, performance artist Marina Abramovich, award-winning author Nina George, singer MØ, Benny Andersson of ABBA, choreographer Anne-Teresa Keersmaeker, film directors the Dardenne Brothers, singers Ibeyi, and many more.
In May 2018, the European Commission proposed MFF 2021-27, which allocated €1.8bn for Creative Europe, an increase from the current Creative Europe €1.4bn amount. In May 2020, amidst the devastating crisis in the cultural sector, the Commission reduced this earlier proposal to €1.5bn in its new MFF draft, despite the European Parliament’s position of doubling the amount. The Commission also did not detail any targeted support for cultural and creative sectors within the various elements of recovery mechanisms (Next Generation EU).
The creative sector welcomes several recent high-level statements in support of culture at the EU level made by Mariya Gabriel, Didier Renders, Thierry Breton, Emmanuel Macron, among others, but now asks for a concrete commitment to realise this objective.
The following letter follows an unprecedented campaign by cultural and creative organisations, 99 in total, including GESAC, urging the EU institutions and member states to recognise that cultural and creative industries are under existential threat, although they should be at the centre of a sustainable recovery plan to re-boost EU economy. Germany, France and Italy are supportive of allocating more EU budget for culture.
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