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CULTURAL CREATORS FRIENDSHIP GROUP

THE CCFG


The Cultural Creators Friendship Group (CCFG) is a cross-partisan and supranational coalition in the European Parliament (EP), consisting of currently 28 members from 6 different political groups and 14 different countries. We aim at improving the whole European cultural ecosystem with a focus on the Cultural and Creative Sectors (CCS) - and especially on the situation and conditions of creators of cultural works, e.g. authors, performers and artists.

The CCFG is not an official organ of the European Parliament and therefore does not represent the EP or speak on its behalf. It is an informal cooperation scheme among Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) that are interested to forward and promote its principles as enshrined in our CCFG Manifesto (see below).

The idea of the CCFG is to operate as a forum of discussion and cooperation among its members to discuss topics described in the Manifesto and that are of relevance to policies of the European Union, e.g. upcoming files in relevant EP committees, and to act as a forum for interest groups to present their positions or proposals on topics that are relevant to scope of the CCFG.

Interest groups or individuals representing the CCS can officially support the CCFG and participate in our meetings. Essential requirement for supporters is being registered in the transparency register of the EU institutions.

THE CCFG BOARD:

Laurence FARRENG (Renew)
Loucas FOURLAS (EPP)
Ibán GARCÍA DEL BLANCO (S&D)
Niklas NIENAẞ (Greens/EFA)
Andrey SLABAKOV (ECR)

Secretary General: Benjamin FEYEN

MEMBERS


Karolin BRAUNSBERGER-REINHOLD (EPP), Germany
Engin EROGLU (Renew), Germany
Laurence FARRENG (Renew), France
Loucas FOURLAS (EPP), Cyprus
Tomasz FRANKOWSKI (EPP), Poland
Romeo FRANZ (Greens/EFA), Germany
Malte GALLÉE (Greens/EFA), Germany
Ibán GARCÍA DEL BLANCO (S&D), Spain
Giorgos GEORGIOU (The Left), Cyprus
Alexis GEORGOULIS (NI), Greece
Sunčana GLAVAK (EPP), Croatia
Hannes HEIDE (S&D), Austria
Irena JOVEVA (Renew), Slovenia
Niyazi KIZILYÜREK (The Left), Cyprus
Łukasz KOHUT (S&D), Poland
Antonius MANDERS (EPP), Netherlands
Dace MELBĀRDE (EPP), Latvia
Niklas NIENAẞ (Greens/EFA), Germany
Anne-Sophie PELLETIER (The Left), France
Diana RIBA I GINER (Greens/EFA), Spain
Marcos ROS SEMPERE (S&D), Spain
Domènec RUIZ DEVESA (S&D), Spain
Monica SEMEDO (Renew), Luxembourg
Andrey SLABAKOV (ECR), Bulgaria
Massimiliano SMERIGLIO (S&D), Italy
Lara WOLTERS (S&D), Netherlands
Salima YENBOU (Renew), France
Marco ZULLO (Renew), Italy

MANIFESTO


Authors, performers, cultural workers and other cultural creators with their creativity and work contribute substantially to the wealth, pride and diversity of European culture. They play a significant role in the success of the creative industries and of the cultural ecosystem as a whole. Therefore, it is the EU decision-makers’ responsibility to protect and to promote European creators in order to ensure that they can continue to create culture and, in doing so, bring lasting benefits to the European society and economy.

The previous (8th) term of the European Parliament has been intense and rich in terms of legislative acts with an impact on the Cultural and Creative Sectors (CCS) and the creators within, most importantly the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, the Directive on Online Broadcasting and Retransmissions and the Audiovisual Media Services Directive. The current (9th) term of the EP is bringing further political initiatives, including the future Creative Europe programme for the years 2021-2027, the new Digital Services Act, as well as the implementation of the aforementioned legislation in the Member States.

The previously existing intergroup “Cultural and Creative Industries” already made the case for the importance of the cultural and creative industries in the European economy. Cultural creators, however, face specific problems and needs. Creators are the initiators of creative processes and at the very origin of the economic strength of the CCS. Therefore, they deserve a specific emphasis and a dedicated attention by EU decision-makers. Creators are to be brought back to the political focus, and we need to pay particular attention to topics concerning their labour rights, their social and working conditions, gender equality, and the challenges and opportunities related to the digital era.

OBJECTIVES

I. Raising awareness for and procuring a better understanding of cultural creators’ conditions among EU decision-makers in order to nurture European culture and secure its diversity and sustainability.

II. Improving relevant legal frameworks and industry practices that affect cultural creators’ economic, labour, social and moral rights, including from a gender equality perspective, and the quality of European production in order to foster incentives for cultural creators to continue creating quality works in an increasingly globalised industry within the CCS.

III. Bringing together organisations representing cultural creators from all sectors in order to establish a frequent dialogue with EU decision-makers from a broad political spectrum and with different perspectives, ensuring a horizontal approach across diverse policy areas in connection with relevant committees.

IV. Assessing shortcomings in the current EU legislative framework in order to protect creators and making recommendations for future legislative reform.

MAIN AREAS OF WORK

(1) Labour rights, social and working conditions
(2) Funding and supporting creativity
(3) Cultural education, life-long learning and career development
(4) Opportunities and challenges of the digital era
(5) Promoting the European dimension of cultural diversity
(6) Fostering international cultural relations at EU level


DOCUMENTS & INITIATIVES


Here's our CCFG Manifesto, our Rules and Code of Conduct and our Working Plan.

Join us as Member of the European Parliament or as external Supporting Organisation!

Follow our CCFG on Twitter: @CultCreatorsEU

Read our Declaration on the MFF 2021-27 and our Open Letter on Article 18.

Watch our CCFG video declaration: "We are the members of the CCFG..."