In some countries, national approaches to immigration and/or social cohesion 36 could create an unwelcoming political climate and pose challenges not only to migrants but also to foreign cultural professionals wanting to engage in temporary work or project based cooperation with colleagues from such countries. Occasionally, the European Court of Justice is stepping in with rulings against national immigration policies the Court deems to be inconsistent with the basic right to the free movement of Union citizens and their families, as in a recent case brought against Denmark. 37 Concerns of the Danish Government were echoed by the paper Berlingske Tidende (13.09.2008): "If the EU is unsuccessful on the one hand at guaranteeing free mobility of labour and on the other at preventing a flow of illegal immigrants from moving around in the Union unimpeded, it will have an enormous... problem on its hands." On the other hand, state- funded Danish institutions such as the Danish Arts Agency, the Danish Centre for Culture and Development or CIRIUS, have been very active in providing support to cultural mobility and to encounters aiming at promoting intercultural dialogue.
2.4
Impediments to trans -national mobility
While not the sole responsibility of cultural policy makers, it has been continuously argued and demonstrated that transnational mobility in Europe and into Europe is hindered by internal economic and social frameworks and regulations on taxation and social security as well as internal security restrictions governing visas and work permits. It was not the task of this study to examine these, but it may be pertinent to make some brief observations to illustrate the problem. A recent comparative study of the ERICarts Institute for the European Parliament 38 confirmed the findings of earlier research on the status of artists in Europe 39 and demonstrated that familiar issues in the work environment of cultural professionals remain unresolved. These pertain mainly to the large number of artists and cultural workers who are self-employed or work, for example, as performers on a project or production basis and who demonstrate in most cases, a high level of mobility in or outside of their home country. Some problems are: • • • •
Changing or atypical contracts, depending on the type of work or employer; Irregular or unpredictable income with longer 'research and development' phases that remain unremunerated and are, therefore, frequently not recognised by tax authorities; Insufficient health or accident protection, despite often accelerated physical wear and tear; or No une mployment protection (in most of the EU member states).
These problems tend to increase for mobile workers, which could be seen as contradicting basic commitments of the EU towards mobility and to improving the status of "migrant workers". 40 36 37
38
39
40
See ERICarts: Sharing Diversity. National Approaches to Intercultural Dialogue in Europe. Study for the European Commission. Bonn/Brussels 2008. <http://www.interculturaldialogue.eu> Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Communities on the 25 July 2008 in Case C-127/08: Metock and Others v Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform ERICarts Institute: La situation des professionnels de la création artistique en Europe. Report of Suzanne Capiau and Andreas Wiesand, in co-operation with Danielle Cliche and a Team of European Experts. Brussels: European Parliament and ERICarts, 2006. <http://www.irma.asso.fr/IMG/pdf/Situation_artistes.pdf>. See e.g. Andéoud, Olivier: Study on the Mobility and Free Movement of People and Products in the Cultural Sector. Brussels: European Commission DG Education and Culture, 2002 or Staines, Judith: Tax and Social Security - a Basic Guide for Artists and Cultural Operators in Europe. Brussels: IETM, 2004. Article 42 (ex-article 51) of the Treaty establishing the European Co mmunity (Rome): “The Council shall, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251, adopt such measures in the field of social security as are necessary to provide freedom of movement for workers…”.
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