European Parliament calls for 1% of EU's stimulus package to be allocated to culture

By Emmanuel Legrand

The European Parliament is trying to convince the European Commission and the European Council to allocate at least 1% of the EU’s €750 billion stimulus package to the cultural and creative industries (CCIs). Speaking at the Europe Film Forum in Venice, German MEP Sabine Verheyen, chair of the European Parliament’s committee on culture and education, said that 4% would be a proper figure considering the contribution of CCIs to EU's economy but 1% (or €7.5bn) was a more realistic goal, considering that the culture budget of the Union currently only represents 0.2% of total expenditures.

“We don’t have an earmark on the €750bn fund for recovery," said Verheyen, according to Screen Daily. "I’m fighting and I think the whole Parliament is fighting to get a minimum of 1% of the money for culture and creative industries because there is a special need.”

Culture is not a luxury

  The European Council has planned to allocate €1.642 billion to the Creative Europe program for 2021-2027, a 12.3% increase over the budget for the 2014-2020 period. “When you think that Creative Europe had €1.4bn for seven years, €7.5bn for the next two to three years would be a good result,” she said.

  German minister for culture and media Monika Grütters, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, expressed her support for the request of the European Parliament's Committee on Culture and Education. Speaking after a European Council, she said: "One to two per cent of EU spending must be allocated to culture. Culture is not a luxury that we can only afford when the weather is good. Art and culture are essential when it comes to tackling social problems (…), fostering innovation and reflection, broadening empathy, creating a space for debate."



  Meanwhile, Thierry Breton (pictured, above), the European Commissioner for Internal Market, restated in the opening speech of the Europe Film Forum that "culture and audiovisual must be at the centre of European recovery. That’s why the Cultural and Creative Sectors are part of the 14 economic ecosystems on which Member States will focus their efforts to foster EU’s economy.”

  He added: "With the recovery plan, Europe decided to write a story based on solidarity and cooperation. You can count on my support and engagement to make sure that culture and AV professionals are key actors at the front of this new chapter."