THE CULTURAL & CREATIVE ECOSYSTEM

In these difficult times marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, health restrictions and lockdowns, we have been reminded how culture and creativity are essential to our economy but also to our wellbeing and social cohesion. We have turned to literature, film and music for comfort, inspiration, and entertainment. We have relied on reliable sources of news for vital information. It is hard to imagine how we could have coped with the restrictions over the last 18 months without these sources of support. This trying period has demonstrated how culture and creativity are indeed an essential part of our European identity, of what it means to be European.

Culture and creativity are also an essential part of our European Single Market, as the 2021 Single Market Report has pointed out. The report identified 14 key industrial ecosystems spanning the EU, based on their economic and technological relevance, and their expected contribution to the decarbonisation, digitalisation and resilience of the EU economy. Cultural and creative ecosystem is among these.

This report found that culture and creativity employ over 8 million people in 1.2 million companies, most of which are SMEs. The sector represents close to 4% of EU value added. Moreover, these activities have important spillover effects on other ecosystems, for example by providing unique tourist attractions or by boosting consumer electronics used to access content.

However, the cultural and creative ecosystem has been amongst the hardest hit by the COVID-19 crisis. This is because artists and creators, businesses and other cultural organisations relying on close physical interaction have experienced significant adverse shocks to their art and their revenues as they were forced to shut down or change from physical to online activities. Therefore artistic, human and financial recovery will require significant support at EU and national/local levels, not only in terms of public funding, but also through dialogue and capacity-building actions.

Looking ahead, the cultural and creative ecosystem faces some key challenges. It is made up of artists, creatives, and those who work on the administrative and technical side, as well as entrepreneurs. Equipping and continuously upskilling all of them with digital, entrepreneurial and managerial skills to ensure innovative content and business models is of critical importance.

Cultural and creative companies, and other organisations, can grow and respond to international competition by overcoming fragmentation along national lines and seeing Europe as their native market and cultural space. The future holds great opportunities. For example, by 2030, immersive content has the potential to add about EUR 1.3 trillion to the global economy, and Europe has an advantage thanks to its broad cultural diversity and heritage as well as its highly skilled professionals. Creative Europe will play a key role in supporting Europe’s cultural and creative sectors in these and other endeavours, alongside other relevant EU Programmes and the Recovery and Resilience Facility.