Parliament calls for better working conditions for artists and cultural workers

In the legislative initiative, adopted by 433 votes in favour to 100 against and 99 abstentions, MEPs stress that the gaps between national social systems, different national definitions of artists and rules applying to self-employed workers create unfair conditions.

The sector, employing 3.8% of the EU’s workforce and accounting for 4.4% of GDP, is insufficiently protected, they add. Since the sector is characterised by atypical working patterns, irregular income and fewer possibilities for social bargaining, there is a higher risk of underpaid or unpaid work, bogus self-employment and coercive buy-out contracts. New digital technologies, such as generative AI, also pose challenges, the text states.

The legislative initiative

Parliament calls for an EU framework, combining legislative and non-legislative tools, to improve social and professional conditions and create a fair and equal situation for all EU artists and cultural professionals. MEPs want this framework to include:

• a directive on decent working conditions and the correct determinations of employment status of professionals in the cultural and creative sectors (CCS);
• Council decisions to work towards EU standards in the sector, via a European platform for exchanging best practice and creating mutual understanding among member states;
• adapting the next cycle of EU programmes that fund creative and cultural professionals, such as Creative Europe and Horizon Europe, to oblige the EU and the recipients to comply with International Labour Organization, EU, national or collective labour and social obligations and ensure that artists are always paid, including for time spent in rehearsals or preparing funding applications.