26.05.2019 10 Questions for EU Candidates

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  • Who in your party/parliamentary faction/political club is the official representative concerned with the interests of the professional independent, non-institutionalised arts sector at European level – and in particular with the independent performing arts, including dance?
  • What did you/your party/your parliamentary faction/your political club achieve in the last legislative period in regard to the needs and requirements of the independent performing arts sector?
  • What are your/your party’s/your parliamentary faction’s/your political club’s plans for the upcoming legislative period in terms of initiating and intensifying direct and personal communication with the associations and interest groups of the independent performing arts sector to guarantee your general availability and reachability?
  • What are your/your party’s/your parliamentary faction’s/your political club’s plans for the upcoming legislative period in terms of engaging closer with, supporting and improving the specific working conditions in the professional independent, non-institutionalised performing arts sector?
  • Do you support the idea of compiling (for the very first time) a report and relevant statistics of the social and economic situation of artists and creatives as well as of aspects of equality and diversity in the culture and media sector throughout Europe? In what ways do you plan to include the associations and interest groups from the cultural sector in the process of compiling the aforementioned report and relevant statistics?
  • The European Union’s »Creative Europe« programme represents an integral part of European cultural policy making. However, mainly the creative industry and larger cultural organisations are supported by this funding scheme. What are your/your party’s/your parliamentary faction’s/your political club’s plans for the upcoming legislative period to allow for more small organisations and networks from the performing arts sector to receive funding from the »Creative Europe« programme?
  • What is your/your party’s/your parliamentary faction’s/your political club’s position on upholding minimum standards of social welfare benefits in the professional independent, non-institutionalised arts sector and adhering to minimum levels of remuneration as recommended by the specific associations and interest groups? Do you support the consistent structural application of recommended minimum levels of remuneration, especially in terms of the European Union’s funding programmes, and do you also support a corresponding increase in the budget of these funding programmes?
  • The artistic work produced in the independent performing arts sector has great influence on general aesthetic discourse, the strengthening of civil society and international and transcultural exchange. However, research by the European Association of Independent Performing Arts (EAIPA) indicates that the working conditions of a majority of artists in this sector – irrespective of their important contributions to culture and society in general – are precarious. What possibilities do you/your party/your parliamentary faction/your political club identify in order to change and improve the basic social situation at European level and protect people working in the independent performing arts sector from the risk of poverty in old age?
  • In article 16 of the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, it clearly states that so-called developed countries are obligated to structure cultural exchange in favour of so-called developing countries. This also includes measures to encourage the mobility of artists and other cultural players, especially in favour of those travelling from so-called developing countries to so-called developed countries. Mobility of artists and, as a consequence, cultural exchange are often hindered by the visa regulations implemented by the individual EU member states, including unsupported allegations against artists that they would only use cultural exchange to stay in the EU on a permanent basis. Which specific steps/measures/initiatives do you/your party/your parliamentary faction/your political club mean to install at European level in order to remedy above-mentioned barriers to the progress of cultural exchange and to strengthen the current compliance with the UNESCO convention?
  • The sanctity of the freedom of the arts is one of the elemental requirements for any artistic practice. Which specific measures and initiatives do you/your party/your parliamentary faction/your political club mean to implement at European level to counteract any restrictions on the freedom of the arts and to consequentially document and take action against any possible violations?