16.12.2025

CreativeFED welcomes the Commission’s Draft Joint Declaration and its clear elevation of culture as a strategic resource for Europe’s democracy, cohesion and competitiveness. We strongly support the commitments on artistic freedom, cultural and linguistic diversity, inclusive access, fair working conditions, youth participation, STEAM education, health & well-being, cultural heritage, climate resilience, and a human-centric approach to AI.

We particularly endorse the Declaration’s rights-first framing of AI: transparency, respect for creators’ remuneration and IP, safeguards against cultural homogenisation, and investment in digital skills so that creators can adopt trustworthy tools without eroding cultural sovereignty.

Read the Draft Joint Declaration “Europe for Culture – Culture for Europe”


To turn these principles into measurable progress, we urge the EU institutions to:

Hardwire fair work & access into funding

Link grants and programme participation to fair-pay baselines, social protection, and accessibility standards for artists and cultural workers, with annual public reporting.


Make CCIs a flagship of the Union of Skills

Ring-fence Erasmus+ for creative micro-credentials, mobility, and CCI–industry–HEI/VET partnerships, ensuring recognition of creative skills across borders.


Back creative innovation at scale

Dedicate a visible “creative-tech and cultural data” window within the proposed European Competitiveness Fund (€409bn) and align co-funded calls in Horizon Europe (€175bn) for discoverability, heritage tech, multilingual AI, and creator-led datasets/tools.


Protect and mobilise heritage for resilience

Integrate culture and heritage into crisis-preparedness, reconstruction and sustainable tourism agendas, with shared risk metrics across regions.


Adopt a Culture KPI Scoreboard

A small, comparable set of indicators (access/participation, fair work, youth voice, AI/IP compliance, heritage risk & recovery) and an independent annual review, as foreseen by the Declaration’s data and progress clauses.