Council for Culture calls for substantial investment in sector
In mid-April, the Culture Council sent a letter to informateur Tjeenk Willink in which it argued that the cultural and creative sector needs extra funding every year. The council states that the national budget for culture, heritage, media and libraries must be structurally increased by 477 million euros. An additional €83 million is needed on an incidental basis.
The council draws this conclusion on the basis of an analysis and a financial breakdown of its policy advices from the past years. government period. These investments are necessary to create a cultural sector that is accessible and relevant to everyone in the Netherlands and in which every worker is paid fairly; a cultural sector, moreover, that can make a substantial contribution to economic and social recovery from the coronary crisis.
"The cultural and creative sector contributes 25.5 billion euros annually. euro to 3.7 percent of the gross national product of Netherlands. The total sector accounts for some 320 thousand jobs, 4.5 percent of total employment, is about the same size as the construction industry and even almost 2 times as large as agriculture."
The council points to structural bottlenecks in the financing, such as the extra costs for fair pay and strengthening the labour market position of makers
Central government expenditure on culture is approximately 1 billion euros per year, less than 0.3% of the total budget. Provinces and municipalities together invest 2.3 billion euros. The council mentions the investment agenda for culture "a minimum necessary investment in relation to the measurable and non-measurable return on culture for the economy and society".
The council notes that despite a widely supported desire to make culture more of and for everyone, fewer and fewer Dutch people have a library or good amateur art facilities in their immediate vicinity. The council also points out structural bottlenecks in the financing, such as the extra costs for fair pay and strengthening the labour market position of makers. The sector must also be able to invest in adaptations and innovations to keep up with the times.
The council's investment agenda is based on a structural increase of 477 million euros in the national budget: 285 million euros extra for expansion, regional distribution and fair remuneration of culture, 27 million euros for heritage, 70 million euros for media and 95 million euros extra for libraries. In addition, according to the council, 83 million euros is incidentally needed for, among other things, digitisation and strengthening of the revolving production fund and the National Purchasing Fund for the preservation of heritage.
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