We have already devoted several insights to crisis mitigation measures and how the European project world is responding to it. As we have explained, we are witnessing an intense effort by community institutions, philanthropy,associations, and business to address theCovid-19 emergency.
All of these actors are mobilizing capacities and resources in the “frontline” sectors in the fight against Covid-19 (medicine, science, health, biotechnology, ICT, production processes and infrastructure); as well as in the sectors that can first determine the economic and social impacts of the crisis (business aid and financing, social coverage and assistance).
An equally strong and clear response was still lacking in other sectors: sectors that can play an important role in combating the crisis and have been particularly affected by it.Apparently things are moving fast, however: the cultural and creative sectors are one example.
Indeed, the European Commission has recognized the devastating economic impact of the Coronavirus on these sectors and is aware that there can be no real recovery without their active contribution in combating and overcoming the crisis.
The initiatives launched and resources mobilized, summarized on this page, certainly represent a strong response to the needs of those working in culture, art and creative production. We resume them here in brief.
Happy reading… and hopefully we are soon followed by similar initiatives in other areas!
First of all, the possibility of using the more general forms of support already presented in one of our proceding posts, namely:
- The temporary support framework, consisting of direct grants, tax breaks and loan guarantees made available by individual countries(1 | 2) and an additional instrument (called “SURE” in support of states in implementing measures against unemployment;
- L’investment initiative in response to Covid-19, which provides for greater availability and flexibility in the use of European funds (structural and cohesion funds) to manage the emergency at the national and local levels (1 | 2)-particularly in health care, in supporting employment and small and medium-sized enterprises, and in mitigating the social and economic impact of the virus;
- The Small and Medium Enterprise Liquidity Support Fund made available by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Commission; further complemented by a guarantee fund, equally dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises and promoted by the partnership between the EIB and EU institutions.
Even more significant in this specific sector are the new initiatives expressly dedicated to practitioners of culture, art and creative production:
- A new platform, Creatives Unite : conceived as “a platform of the industry, for the industry,” provides quick access to everything that is happening and that may be of interest to practitioners in these sectors as an answer or opportunity in this time of crisis. Including in particular:
Organizations and initiatives | Stories and best practices | Research and surveys | Events | Support initiatives | Tools and resources | Funding | Cooperation opportunities | EU response
All this, organized in the different thematic areas of interest to those working in the cultural, artistic and creative world:
All cultural and creative sectors and cross-cutting aspects | Cultural heritage and museums | Music | Performing arts | Festivals | Visual arts | Literature and books | Media and press | Audiovisual, film, TV, and radio | Video games and multimedia content | Design and fashion | Art crafts | Architecture
- New measures aimed at adapting the implementation of the Creative Europe program to the new post-Covid-19 situation. Also captured on this page, they are indeed many and significant:
- The evaluation of the 2020 call for cooperation projects in the Culture subprogram(whose deadline was in November) is accelerated in order to quickly meet the needs of practitioners. For the same reason, it is planned as early as September to start the projects and make available the relevant pre-financing shares;
- Greater attention to mobility issues, which are particularly important for the performing arts (including especially theater, dance, circus, and street arts). The support scheme for their transnational distribution will be accelerated (call expected in late May) and will include a specific focus on live recordings, streaming and online experiences;
- The last call for translation of European books under Creative Europe has been extended to May 28, its allocation has been increased and the selection process will be accelerated, to mitigate the impact of the crisis on the publishing sector (closing of fairs and bookstores) and making European literary works more available to all citizens;
We take this opportunity to remind you to check out the Creative Europe program calls here and here!And also here: a page dedicated to Creative Europe calls that have been postponed.
- Recipients of the Creative Europe program are invited to show their artwork online to enable the continuation of planned actions and mitigate the impact of anti-Covid-19 measures on the arts and culture sector. The initiative is part of the #CreativeEuropeAtHome social campaign: dedicated to artistic activities funded by Creative Europe and open to the public, it will allow artists to gain even more visibility through the program’s social channels(Facebook | Twitter | Instagram);
- Special measures are planned for movie theaters (severely affected by the “lockdown”) with a probable allocation of 5 million euros in the form of special “vouchers” under the Media program: here and here are the program pages for upcoming updates.
But above all, we urge you to refer to the network of Creative Europe Desks and Media Offices: the situation calls for close coordination with and between the national networks… and between them and the practitioners!
