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having regard to the Preamble and to Articles 2, 3 and 4 of the Treaty on European Union,

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having regard to Articles 6 and 167 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 3 of the Treaty on European Union,

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having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and in particular Article 19 thereof,

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having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, in particular Article 22 thereof,

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having regard to the Commission communication of 22 May 2018 on ‘Building a Stronger Europe: the role of youth, education and culture policies’ (COM(2018)0268),

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having regard to the Commission communication of 22 May 2018 entitled ‘A New European Agenda for Culture’ (COM(2018)0267),

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having regard to the Commission communication of 14 November 2017 on ‘Strengthening European Identity through Education and Culture’ (COM(2017)0673),

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having regard to its resolution of 13 December 2016 on a coherent EU policy for cultural and creative industries (1),

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having regard to its resolution of 17 April 2020 on EU coordinated action to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences (2),

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having regard to its resolution of 19 June 2020 on transport and tourism in 2020 and beyond (3),

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having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1295/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 establishing the Creative Europe Programme (2014 to 2020) and repealing Decisions No 1718/2006/EC, No 1855/2006/EC and No 1041/2009/EC (4) (‘the Regulation’),

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having regard to the European Council conclusions of 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 July 2020,

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having regard to the Council conclusions of 15 November 2018 on the Work Plan for Culture 2019-2022 (2018/C 460/10),

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having regard to the Commission staff working document ‘Identifying Europe’s recovery needs’ accompanying the Commission communication of 27 May 2020 on ‘Europe’s moment: Repair and Prepare for the Next Generation’ (COM(2020)0456),

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having regard to the 2015 report on ‘Cultural Heritage Counts for Europe’,

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having regard to Rule 132(2) and (4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.

whereas culture is a strategic sector for the European Union, not only constituting an important part of our economy, but also contributing to democratic, sustainable, free and inclusive societies, and reflecting our European diversity, values, history, freedoms and way of life;

B.

whereas culture and the freedom of the arts contribute significantly to the vibrancy of a society and enable all segments of society to express their identities, contributing to social cohesion and intercultural dialogue paving the way to an ever closer European Union;

C.

whereas culture has an intrinsic value as an expression of humanity, democracy and civic engagement that can be key to advancing sustainable development;

D.

whereas culture strengthens the social capital of societies, facilitates democratic citizenship, fosters creativity, well-being and critical thinking, encourages integration and cohesion and promotes diversity, equality and pluralism;

E.

whereas cultural participation has been recognised as one of the main accelerators of social change and of the construction of inclusive, resilient societies;

F.

whereas culture and the cultural and creative sectors and industries are an important vehicle in the fight against all forms of discrimination, including racism and xenophobia, and are a platform for freedom of expression;

G.

whereas the pandemic has revealed the true social value for European society as well as the economic weight of the cultural and creative sectors and industries; whereas the economic part of culture is a strategic sector for the European Union and its economy, ensuring meaningful jobs for millions of Europeans and sustainable financing for European diversity, while reflecting our European values, history and freedoms;

H.

whereas European cultural and creative actors preserve and promote cultural and linguistic diversity in Europe, and participate in the strengthening of a European identity at all levels; whereas these actors represent an invaluable force for social cohesion and sustainable development and economic growth in the European Union and its Member States, and are an important source of global competitiveness;

I.

whereas the European cultural and creative sectors and industries account for around 4 % of the European gross domestic product, a similar level to ICT and accommodation and food services; whereas, in 2019, there were 7,4 million people in cultural employment across the EU-27, accounting for 3,7 % of total employment across the EU-27; whereas, in 2019, the proportion of people who were self-employed in the field of culture in the EU-27 was more than double the average observed for the economy as a whole (5);

J.

whereas according to the Commission’s own estimates, the cultural and creative sectors and industries — which account for EUR 509 billion in value added to GDP — are likely to have lost 80 % of their turnover in the second quarter of 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 crisis and the containment measures;

K.

whereas over 300 000 people in Europe are employed in the cultural heritage sector, while 7,8 million jobs in Europe are indirectly linked to it; whereas the European creative workforce in the cultural and creative sectors and industries is currently underrepresented by statistical systems;

L.

whereas the cultural and creative sectors and industries are closely interconnected and have been proven to benefit other sectors, such as tourism and transport; whereas according to the World Tourism Organization, four out of ten tourists choose their destination based on its cultural offering, and two-thirds of Europeans believe that the presence of cultural heritage has an influence on their choice of holiday destination; whereas Europe remains the most popular cultural tourism destination in the world;

M.

whereas Europe’s diverse cultural landscape is suffering severely from the COVID-19 pandemic and many actors in the cultural and creative sectors and industries are facing ruin, without public investment and aid; whereas the shutdown of this sector has had a spill-over effect on other sectors such as transport and tourism and education;

N.

whereas the cultural and creative sectors and industries are an atypical sector, based on their specific economic model, needs and sizes, but are mainly composed of small structures (SMEs, micro-organisations and the self-employed) with no or little access to financial markets and often with irregular and mixed incomes coming from different sources, such as public subsidies, private sponsoring, audience-based revenue or copyright;

O.

whereas the COVID-19 pandemic crisis has also highlighted the pre-existing vulnerabilities of the cultural and creative sectors and industries, including the precarious livelihoods of artists and cultural workers, as well as the tight budgets of many cultural institutions;

P.

whereas the full consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the cultural and creative sectors and industries are just becoming apparent, with the overall medium and long-term impact still unknown; whereas this affects the social rights of artists and cultural professionals, who have the right to be fairly financially compensated for their work, and the protection of a diversity of cultural expressions;

Q.

whereas the COVID-19 crisis has already and will continue to have a lasting negative effect on cultural and creative production, diffusion and income, and therefore on European cultural diversity;

R.

whereas theatres, opera houses, cinemas, concert halls, museums, heritage sites and other artistic venues were among the first to close due to containment measures, and are among the last to reopen; whereas many cultural and artistic events such as fairs, festivals, concerts and performances have been cancelled or postponed for a long time; whereas the health and safety measures imposed to prevent a new outbreak do not allow venues to operate at full capacity for the foreseeable future;

S.

whereas, during the pandemic, as many Europeans found themselves in a situation of confinement, the sharing of cultural and creative content became a support for many citizens; whereas the opportunities to access online cultural content have multiplied and made cultural content more accessible, and often free of charge thanks to the authors, artist, performers and other creators; whereas this further reduces the creators incomes; whereas the availability of cultural content online did not translate into increased income for rights holders and performers;

T.

whereas inequalities in access to digital infrastructures have curtailed the fundamental rights of access to culture, the right of participating in culture and the right to express art;

U.

whereas the successive budget proposals for the Creative Europe programme under the next multiannual financial framework (MFF) even prior to the COVID-19 crisis clearly live up to neither the sector’s nor Parliament’s expectations, and the latter has called for the level of funding to be doubled compared to that allocated in the 2014-2020 MFF;

V.

whereas the Commission’s revised MFF proposal presents a 20 % cut to the European Solidarity Corps, a 13 % cut to Creative Europe and a 7 % cut to Erasmus+, compared with the Commission’s 2018 MFF proposal; whereas the European Council position as formulated on 17 July 2020 only matches the Commission’s 2018 proposal; whereas Creative Europe is the only EU programme that provides direct support to the cultural and creative sectors and industries across Europe; whereas neither the initiatives that Creative Europe is supposed to cover nor its budget provide the support required by an already oversubscribed and underfunded programme;

W.

whereas the pandemic represents an opportunity to rethink the future of culture, and whereas the creation of a more resilient cultural ecosystem requires a broader reflection on the future of the planet and the urgency of responding to the climate crisis;

X.

whereas the cultural and creative sectors and industries are vital in achieving environmental sustainability; whereas they will need to remain properly funded and identified as a safe investment in order to be ready for the transition towards a carbon-neutral economy, in line with the European Green Deal and the Sustainable Development Goals;

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