During the Council of Ministers of Culture in November, the European Commissioner for Education, Information, Culture and Multilingualism Jan Figel presented a study conducted on behalf of the Executive relating to the importance of culture for the EU economy with particular attention to employment in the sector and the “potential creation of more numerous and better quality jobs”. The findings of the survey justify the definition of “major employer”, in contrast to the current prejudice that assigns a marginal economic role to art and culture: 2.6% of gross domestic product of the Union in 2003, growth of 12.3% over the last decade, 654 billion euros in business turnover in 2003, almost 6 million employees in 2004 (equivalent to 3.1% of the working population), and growth of employment in the sector in a period of general recession throughout the Community. The study, based on the principle that “investment in culture is an investment that pays”, also presents a series of strategic recommendations within a “coherent strategy for the sector of creation”: improving the collection of statistics, promoting creativity to contribute to the Lisbon Strategy (the study will form the basis for discussion at the European Summit in the spring of 2007), and coordinating at the EU inter-institutional level policies that have an impact on culture.
