GESAC issued the following press release in response to the videoconference between EU states’ Ministers of Culture and Commissioner Mariya Gabriel.

The release features our recommendations on steps forward to ensure creators and the broader creative sector can recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

EU Ministers of Culture videoconference: GESAC urges the use of available resources for creators and ambitious budget.

GESAC welcomes the initiative to bring together EU states’ Ministers of Culture for the second time, in a videoconference on the 19 May, to discuss the best way to respond to COVID-19 and support the full recovery of the cultural and creative sectors.

We welcome Commissioner Gabriel’s efforts to ensure multiple resources are available for Member States. The adoption of temporary support to mitigate unemployment risks in an emergency (SURE) is a very significant development following the previously approved structural funds and relaxation of state aid rules.

We now urge Member States to take the concrete steps to make the most of the resources at their disposal for the cultural and creative sector, and we further urge them to ensure that funding and support reach individual creators as well. It is essential that the creators, who are at the heart of the creative sector, especially those who continue to suffer the most during this economic crisis, be eligible for the use of the aforementioned funds at the national level.

Read the full press release here.