European Union proposes $3.3 billion for member countries’ arts and culture during pandemic

“The European parliament and council have agreed on a seven-year €1.8 trillion ($2.1 trillion) recovery package for the 27-nation European Union (EU) under the rubric NextGenerationEU,” writes Anthony Brown in Friday’s Musical America (subscription required). “Of that figure, €2.8 billion ($3.3 billion) will support Creative Europe, the parliament’s pan-continental arts and culture program. Originally pegged at €2.24 billion, the package was increased by nearly €600 million at the urging of cultural leaders. The next step is the formal adoption of the budget by the European parliament and the council, followed by ratification by the member states.… Germany’s culture minister, Monika Grütters, labelled the updated cultural funding ‘good news’ and … added, ‘It is precisely in these difficult times that we need encouragement and confidence for culture.’ … Sabine Verheyen, chairman of the committee on culture and education for the European parliament, concurred. ‘The increase in funding for Creative Europe… will directly benefit European cultural enterprises and professionals.’ Verheyen also hopes that member states will allocate two percent of the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Fund to help reconstruct the cultural and creative sectors. ‘Member States should be encouraged to fully integrate the cultural and creative sectors into their national recovery plans,’ she concludes.”