Croatia's Minister of Culture and the Media, Nina Obuljen Korzinek, attended an informal video conference of EU ministers of culture and audiovisual affairs on the recovery of the culture and media sector from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The meeting was chaired by German minister Monika Grutters and was also attended by European Commission Vice-Presidents Margaritis Schinas and Vera Jourova and Commissioners Mariya Gabriel and Thierry Breton.
The ministers discussed the further impact of the crisis on the cultural and creative sector which is facing economic losses, restrictions on the mobility of artists, and a collapse of the system of co-productions, exchanges and tours as the key pillars of European cultural policies, the Ministry of Culture and the Media said in a press release.
The creative sector accounts for more than four percent of the EU’s economy and its recovery is very important for European economic and social development.
The ministers said that in anticipation of the adoption of the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework and the application of the Recovery and Resilience Facility it was necessary to ensure the availability of relevant financial aid programmes to the cultural and creative sector as well as the sector’s sustainability and resilience to any future crises and emergencies.
In continued dialogue with artists and cultural workers, we have recognised the need for a quick response and for launching all available instruments to support the cultural and creative sector, Obuljen Korzinek said.
She said that the EU’s approach should be systematic, comprehensive and sustainable and that attention should be dedicated to the local level and to further monitoring the negative effects of the pandemic on the culture and media sector.
Obuljen Korzinek underlined the need for better copyright protection, fair compensation of authors and performers, more specific regulation and promotion of digital and media literacy given that a lot of cultural content was being shared online in the present time of the Covid-19 pandemic.
