Background information

The Dutch government presented a package of emergency measures to support businesses and workers during the corona crisis. The cultural and creative sector was particularly 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 April extra budget (€300 million) has been made available by the government to raise subsidies to the institutions crucial to the sector at national and regional level.

Content of measure

This particular measure targets enterprises in the cultural and creative sectors who cannot make sufficient use of the generic governmental support measures. The loan is intended for the development of publicly orientated productions, programmes, exhibitions, performances or projects. The loan can also be used in combination with a loan from a bank. The interest on the loan is 1% and can be paid back early (without any financial consequences attached).

The government has made €30 million available to finance these loans. An institution may receive a minimum of €10,000 to a maximum of €500,000 per loan application. One institute can take out a maximum of two loans.

Use of measure

No information yet.

Target groups

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

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Other social actors (e.g. NGOs)	National funds

Social partners

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

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Negotiated	Negotiated
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: Sectoral or branch level

Involvement

As with the Extra package of support measures for the cultural sector, the sector had lobbied for more support from the government, showing that their sector is being especially badly hit. Based on consultation and discussion with organisations form the sector and cultural funds, the government decided to add extra financial support to the existing emergency measures for the cultural and creative sectors.

Views and reactions

Given that the social partners lobbied for extra financing for these sectors specifically, it is reasonable to assume that social partners are satisfied with the outcomes. The government has indicated that interaction with social partners has generally been good during the COVID-19 crisis, though more details than this are difficult to identify.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 27 May 2020: Rijksoverheid, (2020), Infographic aanvullende ondersteuning € 300 miljoen culturele en creatieve sector (www.rijksoverheid.nl)
• 17 August 2020: Rijksoverheid, (2020), Kamerbrief aanvullende ondersteuning culturele en creatieve sector– April 15th 2020 (www.rijksoverheid.nl)