1ST MEASURES FORM MINISTRY OF CULTURE OVER HEALTH CRISIS SUPPORTING CULTURE

USPA NEWS - The French government announces the first measures from the Ministry of Culture in support of the cultural sector
“The unprecedented health crisis affecting our country is hitting culture players hard. We must do everything to ensure their survival. The very future of our cultural model is at stake. “Franck Riester. The French Minister of Culture, is fully mobilized to support actors and professionals in culture in France who have been hit hard by the coronavirus health crisis. From the earliest stages of this crisis, cultural actors and places have conformed and adapted to the restrictions that the evolution of the health situation imposed, in a spirit of responsibility and good citizenship which should be welcomed.

While the cultural facilities have been brought to shut down and faced with the unprecedented shock that this crisis constitutes for the economy and the employment of culture in France, it is urgent to respond to the risk of the disappearance of cultural structures, especially the most fragile. It is also crucial to remedy the consequences of the situation on intermittent workers and artist-authors, who are at the heart of our model of cultural diversity.----------------------------------------------------- The Government has announced a set of transversal support measures for businesses which obviously concern the structures of the cultural sector which are eligible for them: simplified and reinforced support for short-time working, payment periods for social and / or tax payments or even direct tax rebates , solidarity funds for small businesses, the self-employed and micro-businesses, bank cash lines guaranteed by Bpifrance, etc. In addition, the reimbursement of claims related to tax credits (cinema, audiovisual, international, live performance, phonographic production) can be accelerated by requesting the Directorate General of Public Finance (DGFIP). In addition to the measures announced, the Minister of Culture asked his national sectoral centers (CNC, CNL, CNM, CNAP), as well as the IFCIC, to mobilize to face the emergency and respond to the difficulties specific issues encountered by cultural stakeholders, in cases where the transversal measures put in place are not sufficient to respond to them. The Minister of Culture asks these operators to ensure that this first component of emergency aid also benefits, in each sector, the artist-authors concerned. Other specific measures will be added to these first support systems.

IFCIC WILL ADAPT ITS SYSTEMS TO SUPPORT HE CULTURAL IFCIC will adapt its systems to support the cultural and creative industries. A three-month systematic capital reimbursement deductible motivated by the epidemic context may for example be granted. For cinema and audiovisual, a set of measures has been put in place by the National Center for Cinema and Animated Image (CNC), notably by suspending the payment of the March 2020 payment of the entry tax in cinematographic performance halls (TSA) to support their cash flow. Still with this objective in mind, the CNC is committed to paying support in advance to art house test rooms and distribution; it continues to ensure the payment of its aid and is also working on measures to soften the criteria for mobilizing its support. Finally, all the grants awarded by the CNC to events canceled for health reasons will remain with them if they have already been paid, or will be effectively paid if they have not yet been paid. In the media field, it is essential to guarantee access to information for all of our fellow citizens, which is a key issue in the current context of the crisis: the measures taken by the Government to manage the health crisis reflect this. fully account. Beyond that, adaptation measures will be taken (adaptation of the press sector plan which will be enriched to take into account the effects of the health crisis; adaptation of the procedures of the Support Fund for Radio Expression (FSER) for radios associations, etc.). For the music sector, a support fund will be set up for the most vulnerable professionals and endowed by the National Music Center (CNM) with a first envelope of € 10 million, which may be supplemented by external funding . The CNM will also suspend for March 2020 the collection of taxes on ticketing.

A PLEDGE OF UP TO € 5M FOR THE NON MUSICAL LIVE PERFORMANCE SECTOR------------------------------------ For the non-musical live performance sector, especially the private theater sector, emergency aid may be allocated, up to €M5, in order to respond to the difficulties encountered, in conjunction with professional organizations, and with particular attention maintaining employment. Regarding labeled or subsidized structures, particular attention will be paid to each of them, in conjunction with the local authorities involved in their funding, to enable it to limit the impact of the crisis. For the book sector, an emergency plan with a first envelope of € 5 million is being implemented by the National Book Center (CNL) to respond to the immediate difficulties of publishers, authors and booksellers. The subsidies paid by the CNL to literary events canceled for health reasons will remain theirs, to help them meet the expenses already incurred. In this context, particular attention will be paid to the remuneration of the authors who were to participate in these events. The CNL will also postpone the maturities of the loans granted to booksellers and publishers.-------------------------------------------------- For the plastic arts, an emergency fund with initially € 2 million will also be created for art galleries, labeled art centers and artist-authors and operated by the National Center for the Plastic Arts (CNAP) and the DRACs. Beyond these direct aids, the CNAP will soften the methods for allocating its aid to galleries. The support allocated for the galleries' participation in postponed fairs will also remain theirs in order to help them meet the expenses already incurred. The Minister of Culture, in conjunction with professional organizations, trade unions of employees and employers and collective management organizations, also wishes to study specific support measures to support all artist-authors. The Minister of Culture and the Minister of Labor are currently working on specific measures in favor of intermittent performers (performers and technicians), which are intended to be implemented quickly. The Minister of Culture asks the most financially sound structures, as well as its operators and the structures subsidized by the State, to exercise solidarity by paying the planned transfers to companies and by honoring the fees of intermittent workers so as not to not weaken them. Finally, the Minister of Culture will take the initiative to approach local authorities very soon, very involved in the funding of Culture in our country, to unite their actions, in order to best support our cultural players. Source: Ministry for Culture