27 Jan IMPALA’s Digital Action Plan – making Europe the best place to be a creator and a culture enthusiast !
Creativity is a vital asset for Europe and its citizens. It is an essential driver of jobs and growth, as well as for cultural diversity, social well-being and Europe’s soft power internationally.
They already account for up to 4,2% of EU GDP and 7.1 million EU jobs, most of which are local and cannot be relocated. They are economically resilient in times of crisis, and have a high percentage of youth employment, with 19,1% of people aged under 30. Copyright-intensive industries also offer a wage premium of 69%.
Imagine what more they could achieve with a new approach in Europe.
Individuals and smaller actors are the drivers of these sectors’ success. In music for example, small actors account for 80% of the sector’s jobs, 90% of the value added generated, as well as 80% of investment in new creative works. Natural early adopters, they lead the development of the online market, with copyright as a liberator for the artists they work with.
Europe’s creativity will never run out. It is essential to build on this local, and not just sustainable, but abundant resource. Creation must be at the heart of Europe’s development – for both creators and citizens. Making Europe the intellectual property capital of the world with a healthy distortion-free licensing environment is key to our 2020 strategy.
Europe needs ambition and inspiration – a new industrial policy focusing on the unique strength and diversity of Europe’s cultural and creative sectors. This is the key to a successful Digital Single Market through which Europe will be the world’s strongest and most inclusive digital player.
THE TEN-POINT PLAN
1. Reinforcing the rights that drive the digital market and grow Europe’s copyright capital
2. Giving citizens the best digital infrastructure in the world
3. Improving pluralism and diversity online as well as offline
4. Revisiting the “rules of engagement” online
5. Growing Europe’s “missing middle” by improving conditions for smaller actors
6. Effectively tackling websites which are structurally infringing
7. Increase investment through a new financial approach to culture
8. Introducing greater fairness in taxation
9. Mapping how creativity works and measuring the sectors adequately
10. Placing culture and diversity at the heart of Europe’s international work
By adopting specific measures to implement this Digital Action Plan, Europe will be the first in the world to deliver a truly dynamic, diverse and fiscally fair online environment.