Artistic freedom is closely linked to the social and economic conditions of cultural professionals and institutions. The cultural and creative sectors in Europe are characterised by self-employment, small- and micro-enterprises, and cultural and linguistic diversity. Artists and cultural and creative professionals tend to have project-based careers and a high degree of mobility, while they often have an irregular and unpredictable income and combine several jobs to earn a living. Innovation is particularly driven by individual artists, creators and small cultural institutions, whose value creation is mainly based on intangible assets, such as original ideas, know-how and creativity. In order to increase Europe's competitiveness and to stimulate innovation, Europe must build on its creative and cultural assets. The mobility of artists and cultural and creative professionals, the circulation and translation of European content, training and talent development, fair pay and working conditions, access to finance and cross-border cooperation are issues of specific interest for research and exchange at European level.

Music Moves Europe

Music Moves Europe (MME) is the overarching framework for the European Commission's initiatives and actions in support of the European music sector. Developed from a series of meetings with representatives of the music sector starting in 2015, Music Moves Europe was launched as a strategic initiative by the Commission. It has since developed further as a framework for discussions and today it stands for the EU support for music. EENCA has supported the Commission in developing the framework for MME.

The Commission will launch the new Music Moves Europe dialogue with the sector in the spring 2019, to discuss the most topical issues related to musical diversity in Europe and the competitiveness of the industry.

In the EU budgetary procedure for 2018, the European Parliament secured a budget of 1.5m EUR for a Preparatory Action “Music Moves Europe: Boosting European music diversity and talent” with the aim to test suitable actions for more targeted EU funding for music post-2020. To implement this Preparatory Action, the Commission published two calls for proposals in May last year. The first call aimed at identifying and supporting pilot training programmes for young professionals to test innovative models on how to improve the sector’s capacity and resilience. The second call aimed at supporting European music diversity by identifying online and offline music distribution models that have the potential to increase the availability of European repertoire beyond mainstream hits.

Furthermore, the Commission is funding several studies (music export, music observatory, music market trends analysis) to develop further knowledge on the challenges and opportunities for the European music sector. The studies will be ready by the end of 2019.