Culture Debate House of Representatives

In the letter, she pledges support for cultural institutions that are additionally affected by the most recent coronation measures at the time. The letter also responds to the advice from the Council for Culture in early November. 

The minister believes that a recovery plan should answer the question of what is needed in the coming period for the entire cultural sector to recover from the corona crisis. For the minister, the advice of the Council for Culture is an important source for the measures of a recovery plan. She is referring in particular to the advice on the leniency to be applied to cultural institutions until the end of the culture plan period (2024). On November 22, this forbearance was promised. However, decision-making on the recovery plan, the further detailing, the design of measures and also the allocation of budget are up to a new cabinet. For municipalities and provinces, 51.5 million euros has been reserved for the third quarter of this year. Of this, 41.6 million euros will go to the municipalities and 9.9 million euros to the provinces. 

In terms of employment, the corona crisis has caused a lot of mobility among those working in the sector. A shortage of experienced workers has occurred in several areas. The minister considers it important to focus on improving the position of all workers in the sector. An extra stimulus of training measures could partly be given through existing instruments such as the tool PPO, the minister said. However, due to the caretaker status of the cabinet, no decisions were made on this issue on November 22 as well. 

Extension of culture plan period

To give the sector more room to catch its breath, it considered extending the culture plan period by one or two years. The minister concluded that this is not feasible. Extending the current subsidy period by two years will cost a total of about € 25 million per year. In addition, there is the need to provide space for new applicants from 2025 onwards. Moreover, extension is only feasible with the cooperation of the other governments, as many municipalities also have a four-year cycle for their cultural subsidies. Cultural covenants have been signed with fifteen urban regions for the period 2021-2024. The minister also feared a growing disparity between structurally funded institutions and the rest of the sector. In addition, it is likely that in view of the municipal elections in March, the incumbent aldermen will not be able to complete the decision-making on an extension in time. The minister is, however, committed to an application process that takes into account the impact of the corona period on institutions for the new grant period 2025-2028 and is eager to think together about improvements to the grant system.

Additional support package

On November 26, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science announced that the government is releasing 68 million euros for a specific support package to support the cultural sector until the end of the year. These funds include a continuation of previous specific support: support for BIS and Heritage Act institutions and multi-year funded institutions at the State Culture Funds, and support for creators through the State Culture Funds, among others. 

Downloads

Letter dated November 16 Status of motions and commitments related to culture of OCW