Verbatim report of proceedings

Friday, 10 July 2020 - Brussels

Cultural recovery of Europe (debate)

  Sabine Verheyen (PPE), in writing. – The revised MFF proposal lacks ambition and strategic vision in relation to the cultural and creative sectors. The Commission proposal not only is far from doubling the budget of Creative Europe as requested by the EP but it even decreases the budget compared to its initial proposal from 2018. This is unacceptable for a programme that proved to be effective and with clear European added value and is seriously underfinanced. The Commission highlights that in the first quarter of 2020 the loss in turnover for the CCSs is expected to be 80% – one of the highest of all sectors. The CCS would need at least EUR 6 billion out of the EUR 750 billion of Next Generation EU to start the recovery. Therefore, why is this money needed for CCS not clearly earmarked in the proposed recovery plans? The cultural and creative sectors employ 8.4 million workers in the EU, nearly half of which are young people. We must ensure that the additional funds available under the cohesion instrument REACT—EU (EUR 55 billion) devoted to support workers in regions and sectors most affected by the pandemic reach cultural operators. There will be no real recovery for Europe if culture is left behind.