The European Union Searches for Solutions to Precarity in the Culture Sphere

Artists and cultural workers in Czechia are still waiting for a legal status that would help normalize working conditions among freelancers and workers; it is, however, not at all certain what the proposed legal amendment will actually change. The Czech legislators might find support in the few documents released by the EU parliament and European Commission, which deal with the precarious working conditions in culture. The latter also deals directly with the status of ‘artist’ or ‘cultural worker.’ In what way do these reports benefit the Czech context? And since they are not legislatively binding, will they bring any change at all?

The current discourse draws mostly on the resolutions and recommendations put in place during the Coronavirus pandemic and afterwards. In 2020, the European Parliament published a resolution for “Cultural Recovery” which acknowledges the cultural sector as one of the seminal spheres of society and proposes to establish policies for improving the working conditions within individual state policies, which for example ought to include a decrease in VAT on cultural products and services (the Czech government meanwhile does exactly the opposite – as part of his savings package, Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura proposes to recategorize tickets for cultural events into the category paying 21% VAT). But because the EU representatives realize that they cannot interfere with the legislation of individual member states, they are mostly focusing on international collaboration, for example, through the European Capitals of Culture initiative or the European Year of Cultural Heritage. The document also focuses on the ailing media sector, foremost the situation of small regional and industry-specific media, which cannot survive without outside financial support.

In 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution “on the situation of artists and the cultural recovery in the EU.” There it offers the idea of a Status of the Artist which would set “a common framework for working conditions and minimum standards common to all EU countries, while fully respecting the responsibilities of the Member States and the EU with regard to the labor market and cultural policy, through the adoption or application of a number of coherent and comprehensive guidelines with respect to, inter alia, contracts, means of collective representation and management, social security, sickness and unemployment insurance, pension schemes…” The document calls for necessary coordination between individual member states and emphasizes the importance of publishing and sharing best practices.

A European-wide Status of the Artist ultimately did not come to be, as it was not legislatively binding for individual member states. But the given resolutions may at least emphasize certain points about dignified working conditions as part of the EU’s subsidy programs. Their bureaucratic process should, however, be simplified so that cultural workers would be fairly remunerated and not inundated with paperwork.

The knowledge that working conditions in culture differ from country to country, and that there is not much transnational cooperation for finding shared solutions, led to the founding of the OMC group (which works based on the so-called Open Method of Coordination) focusing on working conditions in culture and the Status of the Artist. The group of experts met over two years, and in early June of this year, they published a detailed document noting recommendations regarding the Status of the Artist, social security, fair practices, lifelong education, and artistic freedom. The report also contains comprehensive data about the state of culture in the EU, and features case studies from countries where the Status of the Artist or cultural professional has already been established.

Zuzana Došeková works at the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic and is a member of the mentioned OMC group. She took part in the drafting of the document and says the published report is beneficial because it will serve to inspire member states when drafting their own policies. In the attachment, one can find the list of regulations having to do with the Status of the Artist for each individual member state. When a member state decides to establish its own version of the Status of the Artist, this reference can help find particular foreign legislation and help communicate with foreign partners about their specific features, as well as providing insight into its establishment and use. This can ultimately lead to better policy and prediction (and timely redress) regarding possible complications stemming from its implementation,” says Došeková for Artalk.

The document’s main target group are of course the creators of state cultural policies, but cultural and professional associations can also use it as useful material, for example explaining one’s position when lobbying – both in terms of providing specific support tools (social security, tax exemptions or the dynamics of working conditions) as well as relating to the policy’s stakeholders. This is (especially in the Czech context) an important appeal for the Status to not be a minimalist version merely focusing on active artists, but to also reflect other cultural workers faced with similarly precarious conditions. It also recommends setting up a register that would provide support and also collect the necessary data more effectively (and faster).

The report begins with a summary of the important position of culture and with a note stating that work in this sector is characterized by a great degree of uncertainty. This is connected to the high number of people working as freelancers (the Czech ‘OSVČ’ status) – 32% of workers in the EU’s cultural sector are freelancers, while the proportion of freelancers in the EU’s overall economy is 14%. Furthermore, cultural workers often don’t have long-term contracts, which would provide social benefits, dignified retirement, or sick leave. Insecurity and irregular income are thus some of the defining features of cultural work. But not all insecurity is equal. If we read through the document until the end, we arrive at the chapter which uses a table to sum up the various forms of artist and cultural worker protection in the EU countries and realize that it is quite different to be a precarious artist or curator in Romania, Estonia, Germany or France – or in Czechia, for that matter. While most EU states provide some form of social security, we find the row of Czechia only noting “No specific legislation covering artists’ entitlements.” But to be fair, Greece or Denmark are in the same situation.

For those in culture currently negotiating the Status of the Artist or cultural professional at the Czech Ministry of Culture, the document can serve as a very useful guide, so it is definitely worth paying attention to. On the other hand, a person cannot shake the skepticism of considering whether the EU will be able to implement some of its principles in practice. It is necessary to note that all the documentation and resolutions are a way to put out fires that the EU itself has caused, particularly in the form of the hard-lined neoliberalization of cultural work stemming from the conception of the cultural or creative industries. This is very well explained by Jaroslava Tomanová, an expert on cultural politics, in her interview for Artalk in which she details the development of the creative class as part of the neoliberal politics of post-Thatcher Britain which later served as inspiration for the official cultural policy of the European Union – and later the Czech Republic.

The asocial politics of Czechia’s current government are only exacerbating the impacts of the creative class’s precarious work conditions. The pressure exerted on government representatives should not cease with a promise to amend the law so that it accounts for the Status of the Artist. Quite the opposite. Work conditions in the sphere of culture thus encounter much deeper and more general problems in Czech society – the overall low wages (e.g., in university education or the academic sphere), high living and food costs, and insufficient protection of marginalized groups. That is also why it makes sense to connect these topics with their demographics in society, because one cannot expect that merely mentioning the Status of the Artist in one law will help change anything.

Photos are from the demonstration “Status umělce a umělkyně TEĎ” (“Status of the Artist NOW”) in front of the building of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic on June 5, 2023, photos by Petr Zewlakk Vrabec.