Background information

The Dutch government presented a package of emergency measures to support businesses and workers during the COVID-19 crisis. The cultural and creative sector appears especially badly hit by the crisis and this has led to extra measures being taken. On 27 March, the Minister for Education, Culture, and Science sent a letter to Parliament explaining the need for and content of the planned measures. Following this first letter on plans to initiate a package of measures, a few weeks later, the announcement was made (after lobbying form the cultural and creative sector), that more support was needed. The Minister for Education, Culture and science announced on 15 April that more financing would be provided to the sector, in the amount of €300 million.

Several plans were later published in May 2020 which indicated what the extra financial injection would be used for.

Content of measure

The existing Dutch culture funds have decided to intensify their efforts to support cultural and creative creators and producers. The six main cultural funds have collectively set aside a further €15 million in support for this purpose. These funds are:

• The Fund for Stage Arts,
• the Mondriaan Fund,
• the Dutch Letters Fund,
• the Film Fund,
• the Stimulation Fund for the Creative Industry, and
• the Fund for Cultural Participation.

The target groups for this extra support include: artists, musicians, composers, writers, journalists, photographers, directors, music producers, and other professionals in the creative sectors who fall outside of the subsidised portions of the sectors. These tend to be freelancers or self-employed individuals.

Use of measure

No information available yet.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Applies to all workers	Sector specific set of companies	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
Social partners jointly Other social actors (e.g. NGOs)	National funds Other

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Consulted	Consulted
Form	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Social partners jointly
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis, the government has had regular and close consultation with the social partners. Together the national level social partners and the government arrived at the first and second packages of emergency measures, announced 17 March and 20 May respectively. Social partners for the cultural and creative sectors have lobbied for extra support from the government for their sectors, with success.

Views and reactions

The cultural and creative social partner organisations appear satisfied with the specific measures designed for their sectors.

Sectors and occupations

Sources

• 27 May 2020: Infographic aanvullende ondersteuning € 300 miljoen culturele en creatieve sector (www.rijksoverheid.nl)
• 21 July 2020: Inzet voor makers (www.rijksoverheid.nl)
• 26 November 2021: Aanvullende steun voor culturele sector bij nieuwe maatregelen (www.rijksoverheid.nl)