Culture is one of the best ways to promote cohesion in an increasingly fragmented and polarized Europe. But its main driving force, the artists, need, as demonstrated in the extreme example of the shutdown during the covid pandemic, guarantees that they can carry out their work in dignified conditions and that their greatest resource, artistic freedom, is also respected. To this end, the European Commission proposed this Wednesday the creation of an EU “artists’ charter” that would guarantee “fair working conditions for artists and cultural workers”, as part of a series of measures that also seek to “guarantee artistic freedom”.
“In times of uncertainty and change, culture strengthens our democracy, social cohesion, competitiveness and resilience”, underlines the Commission in the presentation of the Cultural Compass for Europe, a sort of “practical and pragmatic” roadmap to guarantee, in the long term, a “vibrant and integrated European cultural landscape” across the EU.
But ensuring that culture “maintains and strengthens” “European values and cultural rights”, as Brussels proposes, requires at the same time that artists are able to create knowing that they can earn a living from their work and without restrictions, either material or ideological.
“Culture is work and workers deserve dignity, because applause doesn’t pay the rent,” recalled the Commissioner for Intergenerational Equity, Youth, Culture and Sport, Glenn Micallef.
For this reason, as part of the Compass, which for the moment is nothing more than a plan to be developed with more concrete proposals in the future, the creation of a European Artists’ Charter is proposed which “establishes the fundamental principles, guidelines and commitments for fair working conditions in the sector”. The idea, Micallef put forward, is to put down on paper “concrete commitments on fair working conditions (…) and highlight the need for better protection, better social security coverage and safer working conditions for artists and creative professionals who make enormous contributions to our economies, but above all to our societies”.
Start of collaborations for the document
The document, which will be developed in collaboration with high-level discussions with stakeholders and social partners to ensure that the Charter “reflects the needs of the cultural and creative community”, will also seek to “strengthen compliance and accountability, especially among beneficiaries of EU cultural funding”, the Commission puts forward.
In addition to bread, Brussels also wants to guarantee artists air, that is, their creative freedom. “Artists must create without fear of interference,” underlined the vice-president of the Commission for Social Rights and Capacities, Quality Work and Preparation, Roxana Minzatu.
To this end, the “compass” includes several initiatives, including the signing of a joint declaration by the European Commission, Parliament and the Council, the draft of which states that “freedom of artistic expression and freedom of creation are the foundations of culture and play an indispensable role in promoting democratic societies and defending European values”. For this reason, it continues, the commitment of the three European institutions is expressed to “safeguard freedom of artistic expression and respect for community values as a pillar of democracy and fundamental rights in the EU”, as well as to “protect artists and cultural professionals from censorship, intimidation and undue interference”, as well as “protecting the independence of cultural institutions”.
In a Commission that in recent times has not missed the opportunity to underline the economic and competitiveness importance of every step taken, Minzatu also recalled the economic weight of the culture sector in the EU: almost 8 million European citizens work in culture, a sector that generates 20 billion euros of added value every year, giving impetus not only to large cities, but also to rural areas.
