Activities of Loucas FOURLAS related to 2023/2051(INL)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT with recommendations to the Commission on an EU framework for the social and professional situation of artists and workers in the cultural and creative sectors
Amendments (28)
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas artists, authors, performers and all cultural creators are the creative source of our European culture that our society and democracy is built upon; whereas cultural and creative expressions and works are often the result of the essential contributions of persons working in the cultural and creative sectors (‘CCS professionals’) in different functions, roles and capacities, ranging from creative input to technical support; whereas the existence of such expressions and works depends, thus, on whether all CCS professionals receive adequate recognition and support;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas cultural and creative expressions and works are often the result of the essential contributions of persons working in the cultural and creative sectors (‘CCS professionals’) in different functions, roles and capacities, ranging from creative input to technical support; whereas the existence of such expressions and works depends, thus, on whether all CCS professionals receive adequate recognition and support; whereas 7.4 million people were in cultural employment across the Member States in 2021, amounting to 3.7% of total employment12a; _________________ 12a Eurostat
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas artistic activities can be pursued as an amateur or as a professional, increasing competition in an already highly competitive environment; whereas the legal distinction between them is not always clearly established and can differ in national legislations and national practices;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas more than double the number of CCS professionals is self- employed than in the general population (32 % compared to 14 %) and CCS professionals are less likely to have a permanent job, to be employed, work full time or have one job than the average working person; whereas CCS professionals tend to have project-based careers and a high degree of mobility;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas these atypical working arrangements, often interrupted or accompanied by significant periods of non-remunerated time spent on artistic research or rehearsing, severely limit the effective access of CCS professionals to social protection, and their access to relevant entitlementss social security contributions remain sporadic; whereas, as a consequence, their access to relevant entitlement, including working hours and overtime rates, as well as leave entitlements, in particular annual and sick leave and familial and care leaves, unemployment benefits and access to childcare, is often limited; whereas, even when coverage is available on a voluntary basis, self- employed CCS professionals have a low coverage rate; whereas this situation is aggravated by existing employment relations being misclassified as self-employment;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas career sustainability in the cultural and creative sectors is challenging and career prospects tend to worsen with ageprogression and career sustainability in the CCS are often dependent on socio-economic characteristics and conditioned by age, gender, race, disability and class; whereas mid-career CCS workers, disabled workers, workers from minorities ethnic groups and from working-class backgrounds may face worse job quality conditions; whereas career sustainability in the cultural and creative sectors is challenging and career prospects tend to worsen with age; whereas specifically workers of older age in the CCS may be forced into self-employment because of their age, putting them at higher risk of precariousness;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas CCS professionals have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exposed their precarious living and working conditions; whereas the CCS have not fully recovered from losses incurred during the pandemic, with an enduring impact on the livelihoods of the persons working in the sectors; whereas the COVID-19 crisis underlined the fragility of pre-existing organisational structures and working practices, in particular for vulnerable professionals with precarious employment status;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas CCS professionals tend to have low retirement savings as a result of the atypical and sometime precarious nature of their work; whereas artists may continue practicing beyond the official retirement age;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the limited collective bargaining practices in the cultural and creative sectors15 in several Member States contribute to poor job quality, low income and limited access to social protection; whereas trade unions face challenges in organizing CCS workers due to intermittent work patterns, changing work places, the combination of professional activities and in view of the higher number of self-employed professionals in the sector; _________________ 15 Eurofound note on employment trends and working conditions in the creative sectors provided at the request of the rapporteurs, 29 May 2023.
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas women are in a minority when it comes to holding managerial and leadership positions14a; whereas women on average earn less than their male counterparts15a and often have comparatively shorter careers, especially in the audiovisual sector, and insufficient work-life balance opportunities; _________________ 14a http://www.womarts.eu/upload/01-LI- WOMART-1-20-6.pdf , p. 34 and s. 15a https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/ view/EARN_GR_GPGR2__custom_63504 17/default/table?lang=en [PMMR1]PAG. 60 https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public /---ed_dialogue/--- sector/documents/publication/wcms_8653 23.pdf
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas sexual harassment in the cultural and creative sectors is three times higher16 than in the average workforce; whereas women suffer disproportionally from harassment and abuse, also online; whereas this entails the risk of self- censorship, which negatively impacts the type of artistic expressions women produce, curtails their freedom of expression and their career progression; _________________ 16 Eurofound note on employment trends and working conditions in the creative sectors provided at the request of the rapporteurs, 29 May 2023.
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
Ha. whereas as a result of poor working conditions, young professionals may not consider accessing the sector or abandon their careers early on, increasing the risk of a lack of a generational replacement in the cultural and creative sectors;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas there is no specific legal status in a number of Member States for any categories of CCS professionals; whereas a number of Member States are in the process of updating their legal framework in order to protect the rights of CCS professionals by taking into account the specificities of the cultural and creative sectors; whereas several Member States have included in their recovery and resilience plans legislative reforms to improve the working conditions of artists and cultural workers;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas mobility is an important element of professional artistic activity and career development and contributes to increasing income and reducing precariousness; whereas artists frequently move between Member States; whereas artistic mobility entails specific challenges, in particular in relation to social protection and taxation, which require specific measures; whereas the high level of mobility can also be conducive to undeclared work[17a];
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J a (new)
Recital J a (new)
Ja. whereas ongoing technological developments such as digitalization, particularly the recent progress in the field of artificial intelligence, are not only creating new opportunities and new jobs, but also bringing along many challenges, uncertainties and even existential distress for many cultural creators and entire professions;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Considers that the arts, the broader cultural and creative sectors, entertainment and sports play a fundamental role in human flourishing and in Europe’s social cohesion and economy; underlines that CCS professionals are key to the process of European integration;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Highlights the need for the whole cultural ecosystem to be well-balanced in order to allow each of its parts to thrive and contribute to our European society, democracy and economy;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Reiterates its calls on the Commission to develop a proposal for a European ‘Status of the Artist’ as an EU framework for the social and professional situation of artists and workers in the cultural and creative sectors;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Encourages the Member States that have not yet introduced a specific status for artists and other CCS professionals, such as professional dancers and dance artists, to do so; calls on those Member States which have an ‘artist status’ in place to monitor its adequacy and review it where necessary;
Amendment 221 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Underlines the overall importance of the cross-border mobility of artists and cultural workers and exchanges between them in order to facilitate their creative work and improve their opportunities to gain new professional experience abroad; welcomes in this context the new mobility action Culture Moves Europe in the frame of the Creative Europe programme which offers mobility grants to artists and cultural professionals, and calls on the Commission and the Member States to further strengthen and improve such initiatives and equip them with more adequate fundings;
Amendment 243 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Recalls the importance of copyright and related rights in the cultural and creative sectors and of properly implementing them, ensuring that every type of rightholder is fairly remuneratedin particular for authors and composers, who are in a weaker contractual position vis-à-vis the major and dominant media companies that hire or commission a work to them; underlines that authors and composers need the protection provided for by EU law to ensure their fair remuneration to be able to fully benefit from the rights harmonised under Union law, ensuring that they are fairly and proportionately remunerated for each usage of their work;
Amendment 258 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Calls on the Commission to implement the principle of appropriate and proportionate remuneration throughout all EU legislation related to digital policies with impact on the cultural and creative sectors;
Amendment 265 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Is concerned by abusive and coercive practices that may result in unfair contractual relationships for CCS professionals; draws attention to issues relating more specifically to ‘buy-out’ contracts; requests the Commission to assess and closely monitor the situation in thand work-for-hire contracts video-on-demand platforms imposed by third countries on music authors by applying to their contracts in order to circumvent the EU laws protecting authors; requests the Commission to closely monitor the situation in that regard and propose solutions to prevent the circumvention of EU rules and principles and to ensure that intellectual property rights that have a strategic importance for Europe can be retained in the EU, while providing appropriate regard; muneration and fair working conditions for authors and composers;
Amendment 362 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Is concerned by the lack of career transition support systems in place for artists and CCS professionals in need of retraining; calls on the Member States to invest in skills development programmes, on the occasion also of the European Year of Skills, in technical and vocational education, technical and vocational training systems and lifelong learning schemes, allowing those interested to develop new skills either within or outside the cultural and creative sectors;
Amendment 364 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Is concerned by the lack of career transition support systems in place for artists and CCS professionals in need of retraining; calls on the Member States to invest in upskilling and reskilling via skills development programmes, technical and vocational education, technical and vocational training systems and lifelong learning schemes, allowing those interested to develop new skills either within or outside the cultural and creative sectors;
Amendment 427 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 11
Subheading 11
Amendment 429 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
Amendment 509 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – Recommendation 4 – paragraph 1 – indent 5
Annex I – Recommendation 4 – paragraph 1 – indent 5
- to develop tools, such as guidelines for application, handbooks of good practices and shared principles, for improving the situation in all the areas covered under its scope and to evaluate experiences with relevant tools; to prevent buy-outs imposed by third countries based platforms and to protect the strategic interests of European CCS professionals, in particular that of authors and composers, further legislation is to be considered;