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‘Culture Is More Than A Sector’: More Open Letters To EU Decision Makers

European Commission presser on a Digital Green Certificate to facilitate free movement inside the EU during the COVID-19 crisis, March 17.
Thierry Monasse/Getty Images – European Commission presser on a Digital Green Certificate to facilitate free movement inside the EU during the COVID-19 crisis, March 17.
From left: EU Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders.

110 cultural organizations in Europe have issued an open letter to the decision makers in Brussels, another group of signatories has addressed the EU’s commissioner in charge of the internal market, Thierry Breton.

The latter was signed by the Association for Electronic Music (AFEM), The European Arenas Association (EAA), The European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers (GESAC), European Network for Live Music Associations (LIVE DMA), The live music platform for new European talent (Liveurope), Live Performance Europe (PEARLE) and The European Festival Association YOUROPE.
Their letter follows discussions between EU commissioners and a delegation from the cultural and creative industries of Europe, held in Brussels, Jan. 26, where the decision makers showed their willingness to form “a clear vision and coordinated strategy for cultural venues and events” on the continent.
The signatories of an open letter to EU Commissioner Breton.
 – The signatories of an open letter to EU Commissioner Breton.
The letter was signed by the Association for Electronic Music (AFEM), The European Arenas Association (EAA), The European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers (GESAC), European Network for Live Music Associations (LIVE DMA), The live music platform for new European talent (Liveurope), Live Performance Europe (PEARLE) and The European Festival Association YOUROPE.

As the signatories point out, the situation in most European markets hasn’t changed at all over the last months. Cultural and social events haven’t been happening at all or in severely reduced capacities making them economically unviable.

“Not only are Europeans suffering economically, the mental effects of social isolation are taking their toll,” the letter states. 
Europe’s event organizers have been conducting scientific studies on aerosol distribution inside buildings, holding test events proving that there are ways of creating a relatively safe bubble inside a venue even at this stage. 
They have been coming up with well-thought out, scientifically approved event concepts, yet they haven’t received a workable perspectives for the sector’s recovery.
“Artists, sports people, and fans do not know if they will need a COVID passport to travel to or enter events, organisers are unsure which precautions may, if at all, be endorsed by authorities, and the lack of cross-border collaboration means Europe’s previously fluid cultural exchanges cannot yet be envisaged,” the letter states.
And it continues, “There is no satisfactory recovery that does not include access to events where Europeans can embrace one another and revel in the euphoria of a shared cultural experience, under the necessary precautions of our new normality.”
The stance event organizers have taken right at the beginning of the crisis hasn’t changed: as the professional group most experienced in dealing with large crowds in a safe manner, they offer their “expertise and experience to the European Commission’s efforts towards helping Europe adapt to the new normal and to develop guidelines for the safe resumption of activities, as projected in the recent Communication.”
The full letter can be read here.
The other open letter, signed by 110 cultural associations across Europe, reiterates the necessity of “ensuring that culture is explicitly included in the National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs).”
By April 30, all EU member states are expected to have presented the drafts of their respective NRRPs to the European Commission. The EU is establishing a €672.5 billion Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), and the signatories demand that 2% of that money is allocated for the cultural sectors.
Alongside monetary support, “long-term structural support to rebuild the European cultural ecosystem needs to be co-developed, involving all relevant stakeholders, both public and private,” according to the open letter, which can be read here.
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