European Union

This report is the result of the work of the EU Open Method of Coordination (OMC) group of Member States’ experts on ‘The status and working conditions of artists and cultural and creative professionals’.

The Situation of Circus in Europe presents a study on the circus sector in the European Union. The study is intended to be a legacy of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 and follows up on the first inventory study on the sector commissioned by the European Parliament in 2003. The study focuses on collecting, creating and presenting quantitative and qualitative information to report on the current situation of the sector in the European Union. Based on descriptive analyses, an analysis is provided and recommendations have been developed related to the socio-economic profile of the sector, the educational situation of children whose parents work in the sector, its innovative potential, and the (potential) usage and improvements of EU-funding provisions for the sector.

The study “Crowdfunding: reshaping the crowd’s engagement in culture” maps and analyses how crowdfunding is currently being used for the benefit of cultural and creative activities, and evaluates to what extent barriers hamper the further integration of crowdfunding in the financing mix and broader practice of CCS actors.

The “Policy Handbook on Artists’ Residencies” is the final output of the Open Method of Coordination working group on Artists’ Residencies. This OMC group had been convened under the Work Plan for Culture 2011-2014 Priority Area C “Skills & Mobility”. This handbook is a useful tool for residencies’ models, best practices and key resources.

The study, commissioned by the European Commission’s Directorate General responsible for development cooperation, aims to illustrate how cooperation projects involving cultural operators, cultural sectors of activity and/or cultural content can contribute to current EU development priorities.

The report builds on and complements the existing literature on the potential of cultural and creative sectors in the European Union and it is the first of its kind with a particular focus on cultural and creative sectors’ exports and internationalisation.

In September 2012 the expert group working on the priority D ‘Cultural Heritage including mobility of collections’ presented a report and a toolkit on practical ways of reducing the cost of lending and borrowing of cultural objects between Member States of the European Union.