Suisseculture, an umbrella organisation for many Swiss cultural professionals' organisations and a member of Culture Action Europe. It is putting pressure, in a letter, on the Swiss government, urging it to seek the country's re-inclusion in the Creative Europe, Horizon, and Erasmus+ programmes.
According to Culture Action Europe, Switzerland's participation in these programmes could strengthen Europe's creative, cultural, and research networks and open doors to richer collaborations, innovation, and shared development across borders.
Since 2014, the Swiss have not received support from Creative Europe to launch their international projects. Moreover, only from this year onwards can Swiss artists, cultural institutions, or cultural organisations again participate in projects or competitions funded or co-funded by Creative Europe, but often only on condition that they provide all the necessary financial resources.
The EU has earmarked a total budget of €2.44 billion for this programme for the period 2021-2027. The main objectives of the programme are to preserve, develop, and promote European cultural and linguistic diversity and heritage and to increase the competitiveness and economic potential of the cultural and creative sectors, in particular the audiovisual sector.
“For culture, European exchanges and multilateral cooperation are vital, both for innovation and development and from an economic point of view,” Suisseculture points out in its letter. At the same time, it calls on those responsible to mobilise: “If Swiss culture is to continue to exist in the European art and audiovisual markets, the time for action is now. Otherwise, the economic damage will be considerable and largely irreversible.”
Negotiations are currently underway between Switzerland and the European Union, and in its letter, the organisation asks that this issue will be included on the negotiating agenda.
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U.S. Mission Photos by Eric Bridiers, CC BY ND 4.0
