The European Theatre Convention (ETC) welcomes the inclusion of sectorial support for theatre in the European Commission’s Work Programme for the implementation of the Creative Europe programme in 2020.

This important step for the European theatre sector rewards the trusted dialogue between the ETC and the European Commission and the network’s advocacy efforts in the past years for a strong theatre sector in Europe. One key moment of this dialogue was a joint gathering and panel “The State of Art of Theatre in Europe”  between ETC, six other European theatre networks and the European Commission, that took place during the ETC International Theatre Conference in Bratislava in November 2018 (read press release here).

The implementation of sectorial support to the theatre sector will replicate the two-step approach which the European Commission followed for its support for music “Music Moves Europe”, by first identifying the sector’s challenges through a thorough preliminary study before designing relevant responses and support schemes at European level.

Creation of a European Theatre Forum

As called for by ETC and its partner networks, a European Theatre Forum will be organised as part of this sectorial support. The European Theatre Forum shall be a place for debates, visionary thinking, exchange of artistic development and information resource for the theatre sector in Europe and strengthen its role as a vital art form in Europe.

The Creative Europe Work Programme 2020 will also introduce the designing and testing of a new support scheme for the circulation of European Performing Arts works, parallel to the i-Portunus mobility scheme for artists and culture professionals launched in 2019.

The full text of the Creative Europe Work Programme 2020 can be found here.

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