Eu study and policy collaboration on the status & working conditions of artists & cultural professionals

Under the 2019-2022 council work plan for culture, the commission launched a study on the status and working conditions of artists and cultural and creative professionals, which was published in december 2020. the study was compiled by the european expert network on culture and audiovisual, in close collaboration with sectoral stakeholders including culture action europe, the international network for contemporary performing arts, on the move, pearle* and freemuse. some of the work conducted in the context of the study took place during the covid-19 pandemic. the study explores the status and the working conditions of artists and creative professionals. this includes examination of the career paths of artists and cultural and creative professionals, including entrepreneurship, nature of income, and influence of the market, access to finance, social security and cross-border mobility. working conditions of artists and ccs professionals is understood in a larger sense, including artistic freedom/restrictions to creation, the aspect of working conditions of disadvantaged groups, and the specific working conditions of young people (in particular with view to the gig/platform economy, precariousness due to project-oriented jobs and self-employment). the study also considers aspects of creative professions as hidden unemployment (creative entrepreneur not out of free will but due to the impossibility to get another job and part-time employment traps for women with children, etc.), as well as the physical places and conditions where work of artists and ccs professionals takes place. finally the study includes 9 pages of recommendations to the eu, member states and ccs stakeholders, in the following categories - general improvements to status and working conditions - cross-border mobility of artists and cultural and creative professionals - career development - funding - freedom of artistic expression