June 14th, 2021
To the attention of :
Charles Michel - President of the European Council and
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
Joe Biden, President of the US
***
As EU and US leaders will meet in June, about 100 organisations from across Europe’s and America’s cultural and creative sectors are uniting their voices to call for attention to the EU-US cultural relations, of particular importance to recover from the Corona crisis.
The EU and the US are highly important export markets for culture. Cultural services accounted for 5,961.5 bln € of export to US in 2019 and for 2,575.1 of import in the EU[1].
The Corona-crisis has hit both trade partners severely. Concerts, performances and events stood still for more than a year, with no travelling and touring in either direction. According to a study[2] conducted by EY on the impact of the pandemic the music and performing arts sector in Europe were hit worst with 70% and 90% less turnover in 2020. It is expected that only towards the end of 2021 this will slowly resume, with severe consequences on the live events business between the US and the EU.
The cultural community needs a strong political signal which gives hope and prospect.
But the strongest obstacles to make this happen are the difficulties that artists, crew and cultural professionals encounter which relate to cumbersome and costly visa processing when travelling to the USA for the purpose of work and the great variety of conditions US artists face to obtain work permits in the different countries of the EU. Reducing the obstacles to visas and work permits is therefore an essential instrument to bring hope, future and a new start of cultural exchange between the two continents. Toward this ends, experts in the EU and US would be glad to jointly prepare recommendations, and we welcome the chance to provide you with these recommendations.
Whilst the US and EU can be proud of a thriving cultural exchange, we, the artist communities on both sides of the Atlantic call upon you for a solution-oriented approach as regards artist mobility. Artist mobility produces a backbone of additional trade (flights, hotels, catering, hire of local services, road haulage, local taxes, etcetera) and thus generate income for many other side industries.
Reducing the obstacles to visas and work permits is therefore an essential instrument to bring hope, future and a new start of cultural exchange between the two continents.
We thank you for your attention.
On behalf of the following signatories[3]
|
1 |
2Luck Concepts |
|
2 |
5000 LTD |
|
3 |
A2IM - American Association of Independent Music |
|
4 |
Aakash Odedra Company |
|
5 |
AEAA |
|
6 |
AEPO-ARTIS |
|
7 |
AFEM - Association For Electronic Music |
|
8 |
AK Foundation for Dance Inc. |
|
9 |
Akram Khan Company |
|
10 |
alba KULTUR - Office for Global Music |
|
11 |
Arena Resilience Alliance |
|
12 |
Arts Midwest |
|
13 |
Association Européenne des Conservatoires, Académie de Musique |
|
14 |
Association of Commercial Television in Europe |
|
15 |
Association of Performing Arts Professionals |
|
16 |
BBK – Bundesverband Bildender Künstlerinnen und Künstler |
|
17 |
Between the Seas: Mediterranean Performing Arts |
|
18 |
CEC ArtsLink |
|
19 |
Centre Européen de Musique |
|
20 |
Circostrada Network |
|
21 |
Culture Action Europe |
|
22 |
Dance Managers Collective |
|
23 |
Dance/USA |
|
24 |
DE CONCERT ! |
|
25 |
Dutch Music Export |
|
26 |
EDN - European Dancehouse Network |
|
27 |
EJN - Europe Jazz Network |
|
28 |
ELIA - globally connected European network for higher arts education |
|
29 |
Elsie management |
|
30 |
ENCATC |
|
31 |
Erwin Maas - Artists' manager |
|
32 |
ESNS Eurosonic Noorderslag |
|
33 |
Europa Distribution - The European Network of Independent Film Publishers and Distributors |
|
34 |
European Circus Association |
|
35 |
European Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (ECCD) |
|
36 |
European Cultural Foundation |
|
37 |
European Federation of National Youth Orchestras (EFNYO) |
|
38 |
European Festivals Association |
|
39 |
European Games Developer Federation (EGDF) |
|
40 |
European Music Council |
|
41 |
European Music Exporters Exchange - EMEE |
|
42 |
European Music Managers Alliance (EMMA) |
|
43 |
European Orchestra Federation EOFed |
|
44 |
European Publishers Council |
|
45 |
European Theatre Convention |
|
46 |
FACE Foundation |
|
47 |
FEDEC - European federation of professional circus schools |
|
48 |
FEDECRAIL |
|
49 |
Federation for European Storytelling |
|
50 |
Feld Entertainment, Inc. |
|
51 |
female:pressure |
|
52 |
FIM -International Federation of Musicians |
|
53 |
Folk Alliance International |
|
54 |
German Centre of the International Theatre Institute |
|
55 |
gigmit |
|
56 |
globalFEST |
|
57 |
HowlRound Theatre Commons |
|
58 |
IAO (International Artist Organisation) |
|
59 |
ICMP -The International Confederation of Music Publishers |
|
60 |
IETM - International network for contemporary performing arts |
|
61 |
IFPI representing the recording industry worldwide |
|
62 |
IMPALA - Independent Music Companies Association |
|
63 |
IMPF (Independent Music Publishers International Forum) |
|
64 |
IN SITU - European Platform for Artistic Creation in Public Space |
|
65 |
Innovation Network of European Showcases (INES) |
|
66 |
International Music Council |
|
67 |
International Music Managers Forum |
|
68 |
Internationale Gesellschaft der Bildenden Künste (IGBK) (German NC of International Association of Art IAA) |
|
69 |
JM International |
|
70 |
League of American Orchestras |
|
71 |
Literature Across Frontiers |
|
72 |
Live DMA - European network for live music venues, clubs and festivals |
|
73 |
liveurope |
|
74 |
Martin E. Segal Theatre Centre, The CUNY Graduate Center |
|
75 |
Martinez Arts Consulting, ALC |
|
76 |
MobiCulture |
|
77 |
More Europe - external cultural relations |
|
78 |
Musikhochschulen |
|
79 |
NAMM - National Association of Music Merchants |
|
80 |
NAPAMA |
|
81 |
National Performance Network |
|
82 |
New Music USA |
|
83 |
New York City Center |
|
84 |
National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) |
|
85 |
On the Move |
|
86 |
Opera Europa |
|
87 |
OPERA America |
|
88 |
Pearle*-Live Performance Europe |
|
89 |
PEN America |
|
90 |
PRODISS |
|
91 |
Production Services Association |
|
92 |
REMA - Early Music in Europe |
|
93 |
Res Artis |
|
94 |
Roberto Cimetta Fund |
|
95 |
Rosie Kay Dance Company |
|
96 |
Sistema Europe |
|
97 |
Skye Blue Productions |
|
98 |
SOS - Save Our Spectrum |
|
99 |
Taklit |
|
100 |
Tamizdat Inc |
|
101 |
Theatre Without Borders |
|
102 |
Theatre Communications Group |
|
103 |
The Arts and Theatre Institute, Czech Republic |
|
104 |
ENCC - The European Network of Cultural Centres |
|
105 |
The Green Room |
|
106 |
The Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica (SPAH) |
|
107 |
Trans Europe Halles |
|
108 |
Western Arts Alliance |
|
109 |
Yourope - The European Festival Association |
Contacts:
|
Anita Debaere, Pearle*- Live Performance Europe anita@pearle.eu |
Matthew Covey, Tamizdat matt@tamizdat.org |
|
Marie Le Sourd, on-the-move |
Heather Noonan, League of American Orchestras hnoonan@americanorchestras.org
|
[1] Eurostat : international trade in services – personal, cultural and recreational services (year 2019)
[2] EY Ernst&Young https://www.rebuilding-europe.eu/
[3] names and e-mail addresses can be obtained with the contacts of this letter
