EN Official Journal of the European Union C 311/7

Council conclusions of 24 May 2007 on the contribution of the cultural and creative sectors to the achievement of the Lisbon objectives

(2007/C 311/07)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

(1) Having regard to Article 151 of the Treaty establishing the European Community,

(2) Having regard to the relaunch of the Lisbon strategy at the Brussels European Council on 22 and 23 March 2005, placing a focus on economic growth and the creation of more and better jobs, as well as the European Council Conclusions of 8 and 9 March 2007 on the particular attention to be given to stimulating the potential of SMEs, including in the cultural and creative sectors, in view of their role as drivers of growth, job creation and innovation (1),

(3) Recalling that culture and creativity have multiple social, political and economic functions,

(4) Noting that the Unesco Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions underlines that cultural activities, goods and services have both an economic and a cultural nature,

(5) Aware of the study commissioned by the Commission on the economy of culture in Europe, presented to the public on 14 November 2006, and in particular its emphasis on the great importance of the cultural and creative sector for attaining the Lisbon objectives and of the enormous potential of European culture,

(6) Convinced, in view of the growing recognition that culture lies at the heart of the European project in which it has a unique and indispensable role to play, that the place of culture and creative activities needs to be strengthened when developing the Lisbon Agenda,

(7) Aware that efforts to that end can only form part of a wider strategy to be debated and defined inter alia in the light of the forthcoming Commission's Communication on Culture, which intends to outline the central role of culture and creativity in the European project in order to advance a European agenda for culture,

(8) Aware that the success of the strategy will depend on a firm operational basis; to that effect a number of urgent actions could and should be conducted, in particular in the following areas: promoting evidence-based policy making in the field of data gathering and exchange of best practice, strengthening the link between education, training and culture, and making better use of the potential of SMES and the existing structures and programmes,

(9) Confirming its intention, in view of the positive results which cooperation between the Member States on specific issues of relevance to culture and cultural activities under the Council's Work Plans for Culture 2002-2007 (2) has produced, to continue that form of cooperation between Member States and thus to decide, in due course, on a new Council work plan as from 2008,

NOTES that the results of the above mentioned study on the economy of culture in Europe provide evidence that:

— cultural creativity and the economic sectors built around it already make a direct and significant contribution to economic growth and employment, the cultural sector experiencing growth higher than that of the economy in general, and having witnessed a rise in employment higher than employment in the wider economy,

— cultural activities and creative industries, such as visual and performing arts, heritage, film and video, television and radio, new and emerging media, music, books and press, design, architecture and advertising are also playing a critical role in boosting innovation and technology, and are key engines of sustainable growth in the future,

— in particular, the availability of high quality creative content is a key driver in the take-up of new technologies, in particular broadband internet, digital television and mobile communication,

— the self-employed, micro-enterprises, and small and medium-sized enterprises in the cultural sector play an even more pivotal role in driving forward its development than those in other sectors,

— given its close links with a specific cultural and linguistic environment and strong regional roots, the production of goods and services in the culture sector is not easily transferable and thus forms a stable and sustainable base for local and regional strategies for economic growth and social cohesion;

UNDERLINES that the cultural and creative sectors make a special and multi-faceted contribution towards strengthening Europe's global competitiveness, bearing in mind that:

— Europe's rich cultural life enhances the attractiveness of its cities and regions as global centres of economic activity,

— Europe's cultural wealth, heritage and diversity make it an attractive destination for cultural tourists from all over the world,

— cultural content and creativity will play an increasingly important role for Europe's global competitiveness;

RECOGNISES THAT:

— there remains a lack of solid comparable evidence at Member State and Community level which would enable the economic contribution of the cultural and creative sectors to the EU's economy, in particular as a result of policy measures, to be properly assessed,

— there is a lack of information, specialised training and advice to help creative and cultural professionals develop their creative output into successful economic products and services,

— insufficient attention given to the cultural and creative sectors in the implementation of major Community support programmes and initiatives could jeopardise progress in achieving the objectives of the Lisbon agenda,

— within the internal market obstacles still stand in the way of the free movement of creative people, cultural activities and the digital distribution of products and services,

— SMEs in the cultural and creative sectors continue to be faced with a number of difficulties e.g. in terms of access to financing;

TAKES NOTE OF:

the activities at expert level started in the first half of 2007 to assess specific questions including statistics related to the contribution of the cultural and creative sector to economic growth and employment, involving the relevant professional actors/stakeholders.

INVITES

A. WITH A VIEW TO PROMOTING EVIDENCE-BASED POLICY MAKING

the Commission to:

— strengthen its work, building on the work undertaken in the framework of Eurostat as a follow-up to the Council Resolution of 20 November 1995 on the promotion of statistics on culture and economic growth (3),

— pursue work in the field of cultural statistics in terms of definitions and methodologies and assess the work already done, with a view in particular to informing the implementation of the cultural element of the proposed Community statistical programme 2008 to 2012 (4),

— co-operate, as appropriate, with other relevant international institutions;

the Member States to:

— lend their full support to data gathering efforts, especially through the efficient implementation or formulation where appropriate of data collection methodologies, while avoiding imposing an added administrative burden on companies and organisations,

— develop case studies and impact studies, as necessary;

the Member States and the Commission to:

— decide on further priorities and identify new areas of data collection to measure the contribution of culture and creative industries to the Lisbon Agenda,

— promote and ensure the regular exchange of best practice in the field of the economy of the cultural and creative sectors.

B. WITH A VIEW TO STRENGTHENING THE LINK BETWEEN EDUCATION, TRAINING AND THE CULTURAL AND CREATIVE SECTORS

the Member States to:

— assess whether the management aspects are sufficiently addressed in cultural and heritage studies and training schemes and promote the availability of managerial, business and entrepreneurial training capacities specifically tailored for professionals in the cultural and creative industries, and strengthen the cultural dimension in economics and business studies;

the Member States and the Commission to:

— promote contacts and cooperation between the creative sector and the business world in order to increase the awareness of the latter regarding the potential of the cultural and creative sector,

— promote synergies between culture and education with a view to developing creative skills.

C. WITH A VIEW TO MAXIMISING THE POTENTIAL OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED ENTERPRISES IN THE CULTURAL AND CREATIVE SECTORS

the Member States and the Commission to:

— stimulate activities aimed at maximising the economic potential of culture and creativity by SMEs, fostering their cooperation and the development of networks,

— facilitate access of SMEs to financing,

— enhance balanced mutual exchanges of cultural goods and services with third countries, with a view to promoting cultural diversity and enhancing intercultural dialogue,

— ensure protection of intellectual property rights and step up the fight against counterfeiting and product piracy in the cultural and creative sectors internationally.

D. WITH A VIEW TO MAKING BETTER USE OF EXISTING STRUCTURES, PROGRAMMES AND INITIATIVES

the Commission to:

— strengthen the coordination of activities relevant to culture and the creative industries as these are being conducted in the EU's different policy fields with a view to maximising their impact on the Lisbon Agenda and ensuring that the cultural and creative sectors are fully taken into account,

— place greater emphasis on the cultural and creative sectors in the context of other Community programmes and initiatives,

— better assess how various Community programmes and initiatives impact on the cultural and creative sectors;

the Member States and the Commission to:

— use the Cohesion Fund and the Structural Funds more efficiently in order to optimise support to SMEs in the cultural and creative sectors.

(1) Doc. 7224/07, p. 4.

(2) Council Resolution of 25 June 2002 on a new work plan on European cooperation in the field of culture and Council conclusions of 16 November 2004 on the Work Plan for Culture 2005-2006 (which has been extended until the end of 2007).

(3) OJ C 327, 7.12.1995, p. 1.

(4) Commission proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Community statistical Programme 2008 to 2012, doc. 15536/06.