Culture Policy in the EU

Latest business news about culture policy in the European Union.

New Brussels plan for recovery of media sector

The EU Commission unveiled Thursday an action plan for recovery of the media/audiovisual sector, hit badly by the coronavirus crisis, and seen as essential for democracy, diversity and digital autonomy.

Galway, Rijeka start as European Capitals of Culture

The city of Rijeka in current EU president Croatia and Galway in Ireland began their joint one year tenure of the title of European Capital of Culture on Wednesday 1 January 2020.

DiscoverEU - background guide

Around 20,000 18-year-olds are receiving a travel pass under the fourth and latest round of DiscoverEU, which attracted some 75,000 applications from across Europe.

MEPs vote for 30 pct European content for on-demand TV

Members of the European Parliament voted Tuesday on updated rules on audiovisual media services, protecting children better, with stricter rules on advertising, and 30% European content in video-on-demand.

New social fund, double Erasmus funding in new EU Budget

For the next long-term EU budget, the EU Commission proposes to reinforce and better target several existing Funds including a new European Social Fund and double funding for Erasmus to EUR 30 bn.

Funding deal secures future for EU Youth Orchestra

EU ambassadors endorsed Wednesday a provisional agreement reached with the European Parliament on 25 January on future financing of the European Union Youth Orchestra.

Creative Europe

Creative Europe is the European Commission's framework programme for support to the culture and audiovisual sectors. Creative Europe is divided into two sub-programmes, Culture and MEDIA, and is supported by a cross-sectoral strand.

No tax break for bridge, as it's not a sport: EU Court

Bridge is not a 'sport' and cannot be exempt from the EU's VAT Directive, the European Court of Justice court ruled Thursday, though it does come under the concept of 'cultural services'.

EU to clamp down on illegal import of cultural goods to finance terrorism

The EU Commission put forward Thursday new rules to clamp down on the illegal import and trafficking of cultural goods from outside the EU, often linked to terrorist financing and other criminal activity.

Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor

The Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor is designed to help national, regional and municipal policy makers identify local strengths and opportunities and benchmark their cities against similar urban centres using both quantitative and qualitative data. The platform allows users to browse the 168 selected cities and the quantitative and qualitative information about their performance in the Countries and Cities pages.

House of European History

The House of European History is dedicated to the understanding of the shared past and diverse experiences of European people. It's a place where you can discover different points of view and common ground in European history. The House is an exceptional place, where visitors become involved and can enjoy learning about the history of Europe and the process of integration, in twenty-four European languages.

MEPs back plans to adapt more books for blind people

MEPs on the EU Parliament's legal affairs committee gave their backing Thursday to new draft rules to make more books available in formats designed for blind and visually impaired people.

Aarhus and Pafos are 2017 European Capitals of Culture

The Danish and Cypriot cities of Aarhus and Pafos will hold the title of European Capital of Culture - one of the most popular EU projects for the year 2017.

Culture at heart of EU international relations

A new strategy to put culture at the heart of EU foreign policy adopted on 8 June is in line with the European Commission's priority to make the EU a stronger global actor. Culture can play a crucial role in strengthening international partnerships.

Culture strategy to help drive EU foreign policy

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini adopted a new EU strategy for international cultural relations Wednesday, with a view to making the EU a stronger actor on the global scene.

European Youth Orchestra finds EU lifeline

The European Youth Orchestra, under threat of imminent closure, found a lifeline Wednesday when the European Commission announced it had found short and long term solutions to keep it alive.

A profile of current and future audiovisual audiences

Nearly 70% of Europeans download or stream films for free, whether legally or illegally, according to a new European Commission study on audience behaviour. It also finds that 40% of smartphone owners and more than 60% of tablet owners watch films on their devices. The study finds that this is not surprising because, while the public takes a lot of interest in films as a whole, the nearest cinema is often some distance from them and the choice on screen is frequently rather limited. It suggests that the European film industry can increase revenues by exploiting different types of profit-making online platforms to increase the availability of films and reach new audiences. The audience behaviour study is based on research, analysis and interviews with audiences in 10 Member States - the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Croatia, Romania, Lithuania and Denmark. Nearly 5 000 people aged from 4-50 were asked about their film habits and preferences.

Directive on collective management of copyright and related rights and multi-territorial licensing

New rules on music copyright approved by the European Parliament on 4 February 2014 aim to make it easier for online providers to get licences to stream music in more than one EU country. The Directive on collective rights management and multi-territorial licensing of musical works for online use, already informally agreed with Council, should stimulate the development of EU-wide online music services for consumers and ensure that artists' rights are better protected and that they receive adequate royalties promptly.

Creative Europe funding: EUR 170 m in 2014

Cultural and creative organisations wishing to bid for funding in 2014 through Creative Europe, the European Union's new programme for the cultural and creative sectors, can start to prepare their grant applications from today.

Creative Europe

The Culture sub-programme of Creative Europe supports cultural and creative organisations with a view to helping them operate transnationally and promoting cross-border circulation of works of culture and mobility of cultural players. It helps to launch projects with a European dimension and to share cultural content across national, and European, borders; it enables cultural and creative players to work internationally and to internationalise their careers and activities in the EU and beyond; it funds cooperation projects, literary translations, networks and platforms. All schemes have a new audience development dimension. The main novelty is the new support scheme for platforms, aiming at showcasing emerging talents and stimulating European non-national programming of cultural activities. More innovations will follow including a new Financial Instrument for the Creative sector.

New film support rules

The European Commission has adopted revised criteria for assessing under EU state aid rules Member States' support schemes in favour of films and other audio-visual works. The new Cinema Communication allows aid for a wider scope of activities, highlights Member States' discretion in defining cultural activities worthy of support, introduces the possibility to give more aid to cross-border productions and promotes film heritage. The Commission took into account the comments received during three public consultations of Member States and stakeholders.

European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award

The principal objectives are to recognise and commend excellence in the field of architecture and to draw attention to the important contribution of European professionals in the development of new concepts and technologies. The Prize also sets out to promote the profession by encouraging architects working throughout the entire European Union and by supporting young architects as they set off on their careers.

Repatriation of illegally removed national treasures

The European Commission is taking new action to help Member States recover national treasures which have been unlawfully removed from their territory.

Consultation on the rapidly converging audiovisual world

Millions of Europeans catch up with their favourite TV series on a smartphone on the way to work, watch online content on their living room TV, or put their own user-generated content online. There are more than 40.4 million "connected TVs" in Europe, and they could be in the majority of EU households by 2016. These changes are sweeping away traditional boundaries between consumers, broadcast media and the internet. The Commission wants to explore what this convergence of technology and content could mean for Europe's economic growth and innovation, cultural diversity, and consumers (especially those that may need protection, such as children}.

Orphan works

Orphan Works are works which are protected by copyright but whose creators cannot be identified or found. The new Directive on Orphan Works will provide Europe's libraries, archives, film heritage institutions, public broadcasters and other organisations acting in the public interest with the appropriate legal framework to provide on-line cross-border access to orphan works contained in their collections. The Directive is a central element of the Commission's strategy to create an enabling framework for the use of intellectual property announced in its intellectual property strategy adopted in May 2011.