Call for governments and EU commission to reactivate cultural life in Europe
Following the open letter published by 110 pan-European networks on 30 October 2020 “Make culture central in the EU recovery”, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the group again to reiterate their call to the national governments and the European Commission. In the second open letter published today by the group, coordinated by Culture Action Europe, the European cultural community call on the Member States and the European Commission to secure a future for culture and cultural life in Europe.
Culture must be included in each and every National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) that EU countries should present to the European Commission before the 30 April deadline. The representatives of the European cultural ecosystem urge governments to dedicate at least 2% of the Recovery Fund to culture and put culture as a priority sector when using funds from Next Generation EU. In addition, 110 cultural networks call on the Member States to engage with the representatives of their cultural communities and civil society organisations in the design and implementation of the NRRPs. “Long-term structural support to rebuild the European cultural ecosystem needs to be co-developed, involving all relevant stakeholders, both public and private”, reads the letter.
Ensuring that culture is explicitly included in the NRRPs will help secure both the future of the sector and its important contribution to Europe’s future. Reinvigorating the cultural ecosystem not only offers hope to millions of workers who saw their jobs endangered by the pandemic, it can also create new meaning and purpose to all Europeans and the European project.
Read the letter in full here.
Ricardo Gutiérrez, General Secretary of the European Federation of Journalists: “Culture and media should be at the heart of Europe’s recovery. National recovery plans must offer a dedicated budget to reactivate cultural life. It is high time to invest in what is essential in the lives of European citizens. We urge the EU and its Member States to fully include culture in each and every National Recovery and Resilience Plan, and dedicate for culture at least 2% of the envelope of the Recovery and Resilience Facility.”
