EU prepares for coordinated return of cultural activities

(BRUSSELS) - The European Commission published EU guidelines Tuesday to ensure a coordinated approach to the safe resumption of activities in the cultural and creative sectors across the EU.

As the epidemiological situation in Europe improves and vaccination campaigns speed up, Member States are gradually reopening cultural venues and activities.

The measures are expected to guide the design and implementation of measures and protocols in EU countries to cover both the safe reopening as well as the sustainable recovery in the cultural and creative sectors.

"Culture helped people cope with the impacts of lockdowns and social distancing," said EC vice-president Margaritis Schinas: "The cultural and creative sectors are strong European assets and are important for Europe's sustainable recovery, increased resilience of European society, and more generally, our European way of life."

The EU guidelines are based on the expertise of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and exchanges with the Health Security Committee. They take into account the different epidemiological situations in the Member States and their evolution. They provide the indicators and criteria (such as the viral circulation, the vaccination coverage, the use of protective measures, the use of tests and contact tracing), to be taken into account when planning the resumption of certain activities.

Specifically, the guidelines recommend the following measures and protocols:

• The lifting of all restrictions should be strategic and gradual, with a restricted number of participants at the beginning to assess the epidemiological situation;
• Cultural establishments should have a preparedness plan detailing protocols of actions when COVID-19 cases are detected;
• Targeted information and/or ad-hoc training should be made available for all staff in cultural establishments to minimise risks of infection;
• Vaccination of persons working in cultural settings should be promoted to ensure their and the public's protection;
• Participants can be asked proof of negative COVID-19 test and/or vaccination and/or COVID-19 diagnosis in order to be admitted to the venue. Depending on the local circulation of variants, this requirement can be extended to fully vaccinated individuals;
• Establishments should ensure that the contact details of the audiences are available in case they are needed for contact tracing;
• The establishment should put in place targeted protective measures: maintaining social distancing whenever possible, clean and accessible hand-washing facilities, appropriate ventilation, and frequent cleaning of surfaces. The use of facemasks by attendees is an important complementary measure.

A range of actions to ensure the sustainable recovery of the entire sector should accompany the reopening of cultural venues. Actions at EU level complement those taken by Member States and by the sectors.

The EU executive says Member States are invited to take full advantage of the Recovery and Resilience Facility to invest broadly in the sectors and increase their capacity to adapt to new trends and emerge from the crisis.

The EU has substantially increased financial support to the cultural and creative sectors, with almost €2.5 billion from Creative Europe, and close to €2 billion from Horizon Europe dedicated to cultural, creative and inclusive projects from 2021 to 2027.

The Commission is set to publish in the autumn an online guide on EU funding for culture, covering all existing EU funds that Member States and the sector can use.

EU guidelines for the safe resumption of activities in the cultural and creative sector