At the initiative of Vivendi and Bertelsmann, a group of European companies and trade organizations from the cultural and creative industries recently sent an open letter to Jean-Claude Juncker, the President-elect of the European Commission.

The signatories stress that with over 9.3 million direct and indirect jobs, they account for 4.2% of Europe’s employment. With such a role and weight in the economy, the industries express their capacity and willingness to take advantage of the new impetus for employment and growth within Europe, which Jean-Claude Juncker called for in his speech to the European Parliament on July 15.

The cultural and creative industries bring together the spearheading power of some of the world’s leading players in the music, video, media, publishing and distribution sectors, as well as the presence of many small companies across the whole of Europe.

They embody the spirit of innovation and the need to create new products and new services on which the future prosperity of the European economy depends, in particular exploiting all of the opportunities offered by new digital technologies.

To achieve their best contribution, however, these industries also have expectations: an internal market based on effective interconnected resources, equal opportunities for all, fair competition conditions in all of the areas that affect their activities and respect for the rule of law, notably intellectual property rights and copyright.

The cultural and creative industries are relying on the next Commission, whose members should be known shortly, to ensure the protection and promotion of these principles, to benefit to the same extent as other industrial sectors from mechanisms which will be put in place to support innovation and investment, and to exploit all of the opportunities which will be offered through the development of activity in their areas of business.

They are very keen to engage in a comprehensive dialogue on all of these topics with the European institutions.

 

Letter sent to the President-elect of the European Commission