Obstacles to Mobility

Bettina Leidl

Promoting the mobility of artists and professionals in the cultural field is defined as a central strategic objective in the European Agenda for Culture 2007 and in the EU Work Plan for Culture 2008-2010.

The mandate of the working group on improving the conditions for the mobility of artists and cultural professionals is based on this recommendation.

With respect to mobility, the needs of artists and cultural professionals are mainly related to the type of sojourn (shorter or longer stays, i.e. less or more than three months) and the type of employment – salaried or freelance. No matter where or with whom issues related to the mobility of artists and cultural professionals in Europe are discussed, four central areas can be identified:

  1. Tax issues – double taxation and turnover tax
  2. Social insurance issues – such as unemployment insurance and retirement pension insurance. Social insurance regulations in the EU differ according to a person’s nationality and type of employment.
  3. Visa issues – visas and work permits for artists from third countries. Not all EU countries are part of “Schengen” and not all artists and cultural professionals from third countries may travel within Europe without a visa.
  4. Intellectual property rights issues

A possible approach to solving these issues is currently under discussion:  the introduction of “one stop shops”, information offices specialising in all issues related to mobility.

The various states have different systems of national legislation which are not compatible with one another. National administrative processes are experienced as being highly complex, bureaucratic, time-consuming and expensive. Information about application forms and procedures is not sufficiently communicated or simply not available.

There are two different basic types of mobility support schemes: programmes that support citizens of the country implementing the programme with their travels and working stays (so-called outgoing programmes), and programmes that support cultural professionals from other countries (so-called incoming programmes). In general it is observable that in all EU member states, outgoing programmes predominate. In many countries, a lack of funds, programmes and infrastructure to accommodate artists from other countries is a major problem. Rectifying this imbalance between the countries is a priority objective, particularly in the new member states, which often do not have sufficient national support programmes.

It is the objective of the EU to give artists and cultural professionals the opportunity to learn about and experience mobility, under the catchword “learning mobility”. The fact is that outside of Europe, most artists are not perceived as being Austrian or German or French, but as Europeans.