Lobby update
April 15, 2024. Bill to amend Copyright Contracts Law submitted to the House of Representatives
On April 15, 2024, a bill was submitted to the House of Representatives, called the ‘Copyright Contracts Law Strengthening Act’. This proposal aims to make changes to the rules surrounding copyright contracts. The goal is to improve the position of creators and performing artists. An important part of the proposal is that transfers of copyright must now be done in writing. It is also proposed to add a sentence to article 25c of the Copyright Act, stating that the remuneration resulting from negotiations between creators and exploiters is presumed to be fair.
For more information about this bill, you can find it via this link.
April 11, 2024. Platform ACCT
Platform ACCT is committed to improving the position of workers in the cultural and creative sector. In their research program ‘In the Mix’, the platform, together with Cultuur+Ondernemen and voordekunst, explores achieving a diverse and suitable financing mix for cultural and creative entrepreneurs. The financing trajectory of about ten creators has been followed, and four meetings have been held in this program. Three important themes emerged from this, indicating areas in need of improvement:
- Information provision: for creators, it is a challenge to find suitable financing options for their specific financing needs. How can information provision about different financing forms and their suitability be made more accessible?
- 100% financing: how can we stimulate stacking through better coordination and referral, making it easier to achieve 100% financing?
- Increasing the financing capacity (‘the pie’ or ‘the pot’) of the entire sector. This officially lies outside the scope of the In the Mix program. However, because better coordination and referral on this theme can also lead to improvement, we mention it here nonetheless.
For more information about the ‘In the Mix’ program, you can find it via this link.
April 5, 2024. Council for Culture explains advice ‘Access to Culture’ in the House of Representatives
On Friday, April 5, 2024, a special meeting took place in the House of Representatives, where the Council for Culture gave a presentation on the advice titled ‘Access to Culture: Towards a New System in 2029’. This request for a meeting was submitted by Martine van der Velde, member of the House of Representatives for the PVV. Click here to watch the meeting of April 5.
February 28, 2024. Creative coalition visits Frans Timmermans, faction leader of GroenLinks/PVDA, and Member of Parliament Lisa Westerveld.
Nieuw Geneco is part of the Creative Coalition, which is committed to all workers in the cultural and creative sector. On February 28, 2024, the coalition met with Frans Timmermans, the faction leader of GroenLinks-PvdA, and Member of Parliament Lisa Westerveld, where four important points were discussed:
- Prevent the cultural and creative sector from being used as a symbol in the political arena to interpret the election results. Culture and creativity are neither left nor right, but for everyone. It is the responsibility of the entire political spectrum to work towards a stronger and fairer sector.
- Ensure that Members of Parliament with other portfolios also pay attention to the needs of workers in our sector. Think of portfolios such as finance, economic affairs, justice & security, digital affairs, and social affairs & employment.
- Focus on the existential security, fair payment, and earning capacity of workers and ensure that additional investments in the subsidized sector also benefit workers.
- Add the sector’s labor market policy to the knowledge agenda of the Education, Culture and Science Committee. This means that this theme becomes a priority on the agenda of the House of Representatives Committee.
Faction leader Timmermans listened attentively and promised to act on these points. Meanwhile, labor market policy has been registered as a priority with the Education, Culture and Science Committee.
November 2, 2023. Schemes for zzp’ers
Don’t leave money lying around; there are subsidies for your bread fund/pensions, disability insurance and other schemes.
Self-insured scheme
The Self-insured scheme encourages zzp’ers in the cultural and creative sector to insure themselves against disability. zelfverzekerd.oogvoorimpuls.nl
Zekere Zaak regeling
The Zekere Zaak scheme encourages organizations in the cultural and creative sector to employ zzp’ers on a permanent basis. zekerezaak.oogvoorimpuls.nl
Nu voor Later regeling
De Nu voor Later regeling stimulates self-employed people in the cultural and creative sector to start saving (more) for their pension. nuvoorlater.oogvoorimpuls.nl
Zzpp’ers and clients in the cultural and creative sector can now submit an application until July 1, 2024 (or as long as the budget lasts). This will encourage even more self-employed individuals and organizations in the cultural and creative sector to strengthen their business and professional practice. Go to oogvoorimpuls.nl to submit an application.
Contribution in development plan and training
PPO finances development plans and training for everyone working in the creative or cultural sector. Both for employees and freelancers. PPO finances 1/3 of the total costs of your development plan with a maximum of € 2,000 (including VAT). We assume that your employer or client also contributes 1/3 and that you pay the remaining amount yourself. Tools for Development – PPO Werktuig voor Ontwikkeling – PPO (werktuigppo.nl)
October 17, 2023. Sector covenant on fair practice, fair share, fair chain
Platform ACCT is working on a sector covenant between employers/clients and employees/contractors. This should give concrete substance to the fair pay aspect of the Fair Practice Code. On the commissioning side, the Creative Coalition is at the table, also on behalf of New Geneco. On the other side of the table are the employers’ organizations, including the Federation of Culture. The goal is to have the covenant ready in the second quarter of 2024.
Sept. 19, 2023. Council for Culture commits to fundamental revision of cultural system
By the end of 2023, the Council for Culture will advise on the intended renewal of the cultural system from 2029. In addition, the council will prepare the assessment of subsidy applications for the basic cultural infrastructure (BIS) in the period 2025-2028. The council is also issuing advice – in the Memorial Year of the Slavery Past – on dealing with colonial archives. This is contained in the work program for 2023-2024 published today.
July 2023.
After three years of consultation, the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) group of EU Member
States ’experts published a final report on the status and working conditions of artists and cultural
and creative professionals. The report generally advocates for a better position of creators and
artists and includes interesting information about various national initiatives on a) artist status and social security, b) fair practice, c) skills and lifelong learning and d) artistic freedom.
Feb 8, 2022. New culture system (BIS)
State Minister Uslu is preparing for the Basis Infra Structure (BIS) 2025-2028 procedure. Wednesday 8 February saw a kick-off meeting on a new culture system to eventually replace the current BIS legislation. The Creative Coalition attended this on behalf of creators, together with a cross-section of BIS institutions. In March, state secretary Uslu will submit a request for advice to the Council for Culture on the future of the system.
There will be a letter before the summer with the principles and policy frameworks for the design of the next subsidy period. There will also be a letter about the process for and follow-up steps towards strengthening the labour market position of workers within the cultural and creative sector. The letter will include the outcomes and experiences of the impulse schemes and the chain tables. Research on fair pay is also planned this spring.
7 February 2022. Collective bargaining for self-employed
Self-emplyed can negotiate collectively without violating competition rules, that is the main message of the cartel watchdog ACM in their new guideline tariff agreements zzp. With the guideline, the ACM translates European policy. This confirms more firmly that it is allowed to make collective agreements for self-employed workers in the cultural and creative sector. This step is another in a process of years of lobbying and litigation on this issue. Read more in the publication ACM.
31 January 2022. Culture Monitor
On 31 January, the Boekman Foundation presented the annual 2022 Culture Monitor report. It shows that about half of technicians and self-employed people in support positions have left the cultural sector.
November 21, 2022. Extra money for culture
From next spring, around €400 million extra will be structurally allocated to schools and government-funded cultural institutions. With this money, higher costs due to inflation and especially rising energy bills can be absorbed. The cabinet announced this on 21 November in the Autumn Memorandum sent to parliament.
14 November 2022. Culture legislative consultation and vote on motions
On Monday 14 November, the Tweede Kamer held the legislative consultation on culture with State Secretary Uslu. During the consultation, there were some relevant motions. Groen Links asks the cabinet to make the Fair Practice Code compulsory as a condition of the new round of cultural subsidies. This motion was adopted by a majority. A motion by the SP asking the cabinet to ensure that tech giants and audio streaming services make a fair contribution to the income position of creators. This motion was held. Another SP motion on taking action in the short term to legally curb profiteering in ticket resale. This motion was adopted. And a motion by the Partij van de Dieren asking the government to investigate how concrete steps can be taken to make cultural institutions and activities more sustainable. This motion was adopted.
Contribution for self-employed: Eye for Impulse
Many self-employed or hybrid workers in the creative and cultural sector have no insurance or other provision for missing out on income due to illness or disability. The Oog voor Impuls programme offers self-employed or hybrid workers in the cultural and creative sector a temporary contribution towards the cost of an AOV or bread fund.The contribution consists of a one-off incentive of €125 and reimbursement of 50% of the monthly costs (with a maximum of €50 per month) for up to 12 months. The scheme is currently valid until December 2023 (with retroactive effect from 1 June 2022). Read more on the website or apply immediately at www.oogvoorimpuls.nl.
1 October 2022. European Collective Bargaining Directive
On 29 September 2022, the European Commission published a European guideline allowing self-employed persons to (finally) negotiate their rates collectively. This guideline underpins the possibility previously given by the ACM to collectively negotiate working conditions for certain self-employed persons. This is therefore an important step towards improving the negotiating position of self-employed workers in the cultural and creative sector, as well as a major lobbying success.
20 September 2022. Prinsjesdag & Culture budget
170 million euros more will go to the cultural and creative sector from next year. Of the extra 170 million euros from the coalition agreement, state secretary Uslu wants to reserve 66 million euros to improve the position of creators and workers. This amount was previously announced in the coalition agreement and is now finally included in the Budget Memorandum. The State Secretary for Culture and Media will announce exactly where the money will go in the October letter. The decision on extending the scheme will also come then. The debate on the culture budget will follow on 14 November. The Cultural and Creative Sector Taskforce had sent a letter just before Prinsjesdag calling for more financial support.
19 September 2022. Corona update
Autumn has begun: vaccination is on again, infections are rising, but it is not yet a problem with this Omikron variant. However, there is every reason to be critical, as the government is not well prepared for other scenarios. This was also the concern of the Tweede Kamer in the debate, and that of expert Jolande Sap of the Social Impact Team (MIT) during the technical briefing prior to the debate. She mentioned six points, and one of those six criticisms is the lack of a plan to deal with people in vulnerable flexible employment relationships such as self-employed workers.
16 September 2022. Fair practice and the Council for Culture
The Council for Culture presented its work programme 2023. The labour market situation for creators and other workers in the sector has been on the agenda for years, that bottleneck needs to be addressed now, so the Council states. There will be a new advisory report on the cultural labour market. The Council will also hold monitoring interviews with BIS institutions. The application of the Fair Practice Code is one of the topics.
The Rekenkamer (Court of Audit), the institute that audits the annual reports of all ministries, will also pay attention to OC&W’s Fair Practice policy this year. Interviews will be held with members of the Creative Coalition. The Court of Auditors will report in May 2023.
14 September 2022. Energy
There is considerable lobbying over compensation for the increased energy costs in the cultural sector, including a focus on self-employed workers. Read the parliamentary questions on the impact of rising gas prices on the cultural and creative sector by GroenLinks and D66 here. Venues sound the alarm. During the General Political Review, energy costs were also the topic, the Chamber passed several motions, including one to compensate culture. A scheme forgemoetkoming Energierekening (TEK) is being worked on, and a separate scheme for public sectors is being discussed. The Cultural and Creative Sector Taskforce is actively intervening in this lobby conducted with OCW, EZK and BZK. At the Financial Considerations, energy is also the subject of debate. It involves billions in additional compensation. Minister Kaag’s note on the motions and political agreements can be found here.
July 5, 2022. Kunstenbond sues the Dutch state.
Kunstenbond is holding the Dutch state liable for the losses suffered by self-employed workers in the cultural and creative sector due to a lack of emergency support during the corona pandemic.
If the cabinet does not come up with a proposal to compensate these self-employed workers within 28 days, the Kunstenbond will take the state to court.
We know that countless composers and other self-employed people from our constituency have been hit hard by the coronagraphic measures due to the lack of support. Are you one of them? Then report your missed income here: 👉https://kunstenbond.nl/klaagtaan/
The Arts Union’s action is supported by nine zzpers, including composer Vanessa Lann. New Geneco and The Creative Coalition wholeheartedly endorse the action and hope for an early solution for all affected zzpers. See also article in the Volkskrant.
April 7, 2022. Recovery plan for EU fund
The government sent a first draft of the Dutch Recovery and Resilience Plan to the House of Representatives on March 28, 2022. The Netherlands is not investing the recommended 2% of European corona recovery money in the hard-hit cultural sector.
Self-employed suffer in draft Dutch recovery plan
Europe’s objectives for the Netherlands are to limit the social effects of the crisis and to stimulate adequate social protection for the self-employed and tackle false self-employment. As a measure, the cabinet especially hits self-employed through the far-reaching cut in the tax deductions for self-employed, agreed in the Rutte IV cabinet.
April 7, 2022. Coronasteun now
In view of the pending debate on the fifth aid package, the Creative Coalition and the Taskforce continues to argue for corona compensation (safety net regulation) for working people. In addition, we are trying to get and keep culture on the agenda in municipalities. Parties are currently negotiating for new councils now that the results of the municipal elections have been determined.
March 6, 2022. Ukraine
The music sector takes action for those affected by the war. On March 6, Ukrainian pianist Anna Fedorova and Russian cellist Maya Fridman will organize Concert for Peace, a benefit concert for the victims of the war in Ukraine at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. Together with musical friends such as percussionist Konstantyn Napolov, violinist Liza Ferschtman and viola player Dana Zemtsov, they will perform. Involved New Geneco composers are Martin Fondse, Maxim Shalygin, Christiaan Richter. Shalygin conducts Svyatoslav Lunyov. All proceeds from the concert will benefit the cooperating aid organizations under Giro555. Please donate. You can listen to the NPORadio4 broadcast of the Concert for Peace.
In addition to these, there are many fundraisers, demonstrations and benefit concerts with composers, musicians. Special how many composers and cultural actions give support to individual thinkers and artists.
March 20, 2022. Cultural policy in the municipal elections?
The results of the municipal elections show that the local parties are gaining substantially, but what this means for culture differs per municipality. Of the national parties, the progressive parties won on balance from the conservative parties. The final council formation, which can become quite complicated due to the increasing number of parties in the councils (the trend is smaller groups and more parties, just like in the Tweede Kamer), will have to show whether the progressive gains can be converted into better policies for culture.
March 10, 2022. Debate on the fifth aid package
Minister Adriaansens and State Secretary Uslu debated the fifth support package for the cultural and creative sector, the Guarantee Scheme for Events and the Evaluation of Fieldlabs with the Lower House on March 10. The most important commitment was to supplement the budget of supplementary scheme 3: many more applications (120 million) than were available (66.5 million), which meant that the compensation could be reduced or halved. All applications can now be processed and, once approved, paid out in full. The conditions will not change and bottlenecks in the supplementary schemes and the guarantee scheme will not be resolved for the time being. The debate was also about the self-employed again: practically all parliamentary parties asked for attention to this (and had read our task force letter carefully). Uslu responded as follows: “In the coalition agreement that is a point of attention: the strengthening of the labor market position of the self-employed. There are already developments in that area with the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment. What I want to do is to look at the possibilities with the sector as an ally, the task force, and see how that position can be strengthened in any case. But a safety net arrangement from OCW cannot actually be organized very quickly. That is actually not feasible. So that’s another exercise that we’ll be looking into in the near future.” Furthermore, the support to the municipalities was also discussed: a letter about this will follow. A decision about the possible extension of the cultural budget period will follow in June; that decision will be included in the letter about the recovery plan. Finally, GreenLeft had already asked for a two-minute debate as a follow-up to this one, so no motions now. The two-minute debate is still being planned (no date yet). Read the report of the debate here.
March 8, 2022. Taskforce in discussion with Uslu
On March 8, the steering committee of the Task Force on Culture had a conversation with State Secretary Uslu. The Creative Coalition (CC) is part of this steering committee. One of the points the CC discussed with her was the importance of a safety net scheme, as also strongly advocated in the task force’s letter. Uslu said that she actually agrees with us, but for the safety net regulation assignments zzp sees no room for OCW alone. That answer still offers an opening to put it on the map with the cabinet. We also discussed working together more with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. As part of the recovery and coalition agreement, an additional 127 million will be invested this year, largely based on the existing plans that Minister Van Engelshoven discussed with the House last November. Uslu submitted the plans to Finance: in early June they will go to the House of Representatives with the Spring Memorandum (adjustment of current budgets).
November 30, 2021. Plans for a safety net scheme
From the Creative Coalition (45 professional associations and unions, including New Geneco) we wrote a joint letter to the second chamber. And made a proposal for a safety net, for people who are not compensated for their losses anywhere else.
The need to provide a support package for zzpers and flex workers has increased almost exponentially. We receive very many reports of cancellations, loss of work and income. The recalibrated support package, despite the words in the parliamentary debate, offers no improvement for zzp’ers and flex workers. And that is badly needed. The cultural and creative sector has identified a major social problem. The Creative Coalition therefore proposes a concrete solution: a safety net regulation for cancelled assignments.
Checklist Fair Practice in times of corona
At the initiative of Nieuw Geneco, the Creative Coalition has drawn up a checklist about what is Fair in times of Corona. You can view it here: Checklist_FP 23-7-2021
‘News from The Hague’ – september 2021
Generic support ends October 1
The cabinet has announced that the generic support measures will end October 1. The main argument is the growth of the economy, the low unemployment and the high vaccination rate resulting in increasingly abandoning the restrictive rules. Read the letter at the end of support packages-for-jobs-and-economy here
Emergency and recovery support remains necessary
Two thirds of the self-employed in the cultural and creative sector earned only half of their normal income in 2020. Many workers are left out many arrangements. The Task Force culture expects a loss of revenue of €1.5 billion for the coming season. Emergency and recovery support remain necessary, especially for the self-employed. Read the entire press release here. here.
Corona admission ticket deployed more widely
At the same time, Hugo de Jonge wants to use the corona admission ticket more widely because the “vaccination rate is too low” and thus the burden on the health care too high. New measures are expected end of Sept. See the NOS website
Culture in final report informer Hamer
Informer Hamer made a new possible coalition agreement between Rutte and Kaag public. From Hamer’s final report: support for a vibrant cultural life, events and catering; acquaintance for every child with culture and music; more security and perspective for workers on the job market. Read more hier (pdf doc).
Old News:
• Update June 4: Terraces and stages open again from 1 June
Both the terraces and the stages will open again from 1 June. In theaters and concert halls, the door is initially left ajar. No more than 30 visitors are welcome. From July 1, the door will open further and a maximum of 100 visitors can attend a concert or theater performance, provided they sit 1.5 meters apart. As a result, only about 30% of the original number of visitors fits in a room.
It is still unclear which corona measures the government and RIVM will implement from 1 September when the new season starts. It seems that the 1.5 meter distance remains an imperative condition, both on stage and in the hall. This requires a major overhaul of the seasonal program and improvisation. A lot changes for the orchestras. The orchestral musicians have to perform in smaller ensembles. Nieuw Geneco is in discussion with various orchestras to brainstorm how Dutch composers can contribute to the challenges in this new musical life.
• Update May 28: Emergency Fund Music. On 1 May, BUMA / STEMRA together with Sena launched the Emergency Music Fund. Check https://www.noodfondsmuziek.nl for more information and here you can read the letter from BUMA / STEMRA.
• Update May 25: Cultural sector starts online demonstration “Culture in action!”
• Update April 21: Meanwhile, the temporary bridging scheme for self-employed entrepreneurs (TOZO) has been elaborated in a so-called “Order in Council” (AMvB). As a result, we can now provide a conclusive answer to a number of frequently asked questions.
Note: Always check the website of your own municipality for all relevant and most current information about the TOZO application options.
• Update as of April 24: Frontier workers and state pensioners added to TOZO scheme.
At the request of the House of Representatives, border workers and state pensioners will be entitled to the TOZO. Please note: in some cases it is only about applying for a business loan and not the living allowance. So read the reports from the national government carefully.
• Emergency fund BUMA / Sena / Spotify
• Tips & To Do’s
Keep track of your BUMA registrations now. Read our tips!
• Read the fire letters and more about the promotions here
• Read the article in Het Parool of 28 April 2020: who will save the composers?
• SENA starts production fund
As a result of all corona measures, New Geneco has taken action to make politicians and cultural organizations aware of the fact that this time cannot be bridged for many of its members. Some actions that have been taken can be found on this page:
http://nieuwgeneco.nl/corona-update/
The letters are all in Dutch and not easy to translate. But the resume is that Nieuw Geneco and othere organisations are very concerned about the future of composers and musicians.
What you can do yourself:
TIPS & TO DO’S
• Get your BUMA administration in order. Keep track of your performance lists and radio-television lists over the past few years, preferably in an excel-sheet. For the performance lists it is best to keep the following headings: composer’s name, working title, publisher, Buma work number, performers, city, venue, date. For the RTV list: name composer, work title, publisher, Buma work number, performers, venue, date.
• Keep track of loss and additional costs. Keep a record of cancellations (make screenshots of cancelled performances), new agreements – in any medium and extra costs (extra rehearsals, digital version).
• Apply for TOZO and TOGS even if you do not yet fit in. Apply for emergency support if you need it. Even if you don’t meet all the conditions. Please ask for legal advice if you fear it might affect your status.
• Mail your municipality if the Tozo procedure does not work. With this standard letter you can raise the alarm at your municipality if something is wrong with the TOZO procedure. Fill in / modify.
Temporary support (Tozo) for people with temporary resident permit:
People who have a resident permit to live in the Netherlands and meet the criteria of the Tozo scheme, are entitled to apply for financial support. City districts are not required to report people with temporary residence permits who apply for the Tozo to the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND). Applying for other forms of financial assistance can have an impact on residence status, both for people with a residence permit and for EU citizens. The IND will currently be lenient to people whose residence permits expire (and who are not applying for an extension) and for EU citizens who are temporarily unable to return to their home country due to the current situation.
Therefore, if you have a temporary Dutch resident permit, including one for self-employment, you can apply for Tozo support without worrying about negative consequences concerning your resident status.
English info:
De Kunstenbond – English Corona page
The National Government – Corona page
https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/kamerstukken/2020/04/10/tk-pdv-52676-antwoorden-kamervragen-tozo (point 45 and 46).