Debate on the future of Home Affairs policies: An open and safe Europe what next? Brussels, 21 January 2014 Ref: 2014/AD/P6601 Identification number EC register 4817795559-48 By e-mail to HOME-ANEWAGENDA@ec.europa.eu 1. Introduction RESPONSE TO CONSULTATION The aim of the consultation is to collect opinions with a view to contribute to the Commission Communication on the New Agenda for Home Affairs. The Stockholm Programme An open and secure Europe serving and protecting citizens, which framed Home Affairs policies in the years 2010 to 2014, will soon come to an end. The policy document is accompanied by an Action plan implementing the Stockholm programme (COM (2010)171 final). It is in this context that the Commission wishes to consider the future challenges and priorities to be addressed by the EU Home Affairs policies in the coming years. Pearle* - Live Performance Europe, who represents through its members the interests of more than 5,000 organisations in the performing arts and music sector and who is recognised by the European Commission as a European sectoral social partner for employers in the live performance, welcomes the opportunity to contribute to this consultation. The consultation covers a large number of areas which are of general interest to society and business representation. 1
In the answer below, we intend to focus on a number of specific areas to allow presenting a number of specific points of concern to the live performance sector and in relation to the EU home affairs policies. 2. General remarks : specific context of the live performance sector 1. A sector characterised by SMEs: The EU live performance sector exists of thousands of different types of entreprises, varying from larger entities (public institutions or commercial enterprises) to medium-sized and small theaters, orchestras, venues, festivals, dance or other performing arts companies and very small to micro-sized producing companies or project-led organisations. It concerns a mixture of organisations with different legal status, such as public institutions, subsidised, non-profit and profit-making organisations, charities. 2. Audiences, citizens, consumers: the main characteristic for live performance organisations, even in present digital society which allows streaming a performance, is the participation and attendance of an audience to a live event. This audience is regarding as consumer after having bought a ticket; they also are citizens who have transmitted some data by registering to an e-newsletter or other database to receive information from the organiser in view of upcoming events or other activities. 3. Employment purposes: working with third-country nationals is very common in the sector. It may concern the touring of a non-european group to venues, theaters and festivals in the EU, or individual soloists or artists playing on stages across Europe, or artists and other cultural professionals becoming employed. It may concern third-country nationals working under an employment contract or as self-employed (/service providers). 4. Training purposes: Third-country nationals in the live performance sector also often travel to stimulate and develop their professional career. Concretely they may take part in workshops, auditions and master classes, residencies, specific specialised training programmes or others. 5. Professional purposes: third-country nationals in the sector live performance travel to the EU for the purpose of prospection (foreign presenters are constantly seeking to see new performances and shows) and in order to contract producing companies or artists for tours in their respective country. Or they travel to the EU to take part in conferences or trade fairs, to set up (cultural) exchanges or for other professional purposes. 6. Tourism: third-country nationals travel to the EU and buy ticket for performances or festivals. Some events attract major interest from internal audiences, willing to pay high prices for exclusive performances (for example: annual New Year s Day concert of the Wiener Philharmoniker, etcetera). According to the latest UN barometer on world tourism 1, Europe welcomed most new arrivals in absolute terms, with an additional 29 million international tourist arrivals in 2013, raising the total to 563 million visitors in 2013. 1 UNWTO tourism barometer http://media.unwto.org/press-release/2014-01-20/international-tourismexceeds-expectations-arrivals-52-million-2013 2
7. Term of stay in the EU: The period for which third-country nationals travel in the live performance sector to the EU may be for a minimum of one day (to play one performance), a number of days, several weeks or months, a year, or two years, or for long stay. 8. Places of stay: It is common for third-country nationals, similar to performers from the EU, to travel around the world. This means that they often travel in- and out Schengen and in- and out the EU. The stay in different Member States may depend on the tour schedule and professional opportunities. The multitude, the variation of different possible scenarios of travel by third-country nationals, the term of stay, makes it challenging to formulate policy recommendations at EU level. Within the context of the Europe 2020 Strategy to deliver jobs and growth, which is also the basis for other policy areas such as on EU Home Affairs, it is essential to have an effective policy on visas for thirdcountry nationals, in particular for those travelling to the EU for professional reasons. The general principle of the EU should be that people travelling for professional reasons, may not be hindered, as it leads to an increase of jobs at local level and to growth for the local, regional and wider region. In addition, in the context of culture, it also contributes to the objectives of the Unesco-convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions Over the past years, in particular since the 2006 European Year on Mobility of Workers, Pearle* has addressed the particular problems that live performance organisations face when travelling and working with third country nationals. Recently, in the context of the review of the European Union s visa policy to facilitate legitimate travelling, Pearle* estimated a loss of 500 million to 1 billion Euros of missed opportunities in terms of extension of tours, additional contracts, prolonged stays of touring companies resulting in additional income for local hires and local catering, due to the 90 day limitation for touring in a 180 day period. 3. General remarks to the Stockholm programme and action plan The political priorities as they are formulated in the Stockholm programme are still valid. In particular the priority areas of main interest to the members of Pearle as they are quoted in the parts on access to Europe in a globalised world 2 and the role of Europe in a globalised world the external dimension 3, address the daily problems that performing arts and music organisations encounter when working with 2 Stockholm programme Point 5 3 Stockholm programme Point 7 3
third-country nationals, when they tour in the EU (or Schengen) and globally. Also the migration policy, such as it is addressed in the part on a concerted policy in keeping with national labour market requirements 4. As Pearle* represents organisations whose business model includes the selling of tickets to performances, members also take interest in the activities of the European Union in relation to the supporting of economic activities 5, such as it was the case on the consumer rights directive. Performing arts organisations also need clear rules on data protection that are manageable for all sizes of companies, in particular for small and medium sized companies who do not have the budget nor staff to comply with complicated and burdensome data protection rules. Disasters 6 deriving from natural causes, as well as terrorist attacks, are an area in which performing arts venues, outdoor festivals or other large cultural events, have been confronted with in the past as they gather at a particular moment in time larger groups of audiences and thus citizens. Civil protection instruments, such as training, should also be extended to staff working in venues and at main events such as festivals. Good information mechanisms is also necessary for management and staff who in the case of disasters, to be at first assistance to citizens. As a guiding principle the future EU Home affairs policy should allow for organisations and businesses to cut red tape and genuinely reduce the time necessary to comply with various rules, administrative burdens, lengthy procedures and often high costs to comply with new rules and a loss of investment due to ill-adapted visa regulation and procedures. 4. Specific remarks on visa policy The Stockholm Programme and the action plan list a number of initiatives and proposals of the European Commission in the period 2010-2014. Pearle* has welcomed the simplification of the visa procedure when the new EU visa code was introduced in April 2010. Also the improvement on the application procedure, the exemption for young people taking part in cultural events was welcomed, although in practice the special provisions for young people seem not widely be used. 4 Stockholm programme Point 6.1.3. 5 Stockholm programme point 3.4.2 6 Stockholm programme point4.6. 4
At the launch of the new EU visa code, Pearle* observed the limitation related to the maximum allowed travelling period in the Schengen zone for third-country nationals (3 months in a 6 months period). Pearle* addressed this at seminars that it organised and at meetings of the European social partners live performance at which representatives of DG Home took part in that period. Practice learned that this continued to be a major obstacle. With the review of the procedures for issuing EU Schengen visa based on the EU visa code, in 2013, besides the administrative and procedural problems which were addressed at length, the particular problem for travelers in the Schengen, and in- and out Schengen, has been described on various occasions and more specifically in reply to the EU questionnaire 7 on the review of the procedures for Schengen visa. Pearle* would like to introduce in the future visa policy, the notion of bona fide employer or host organisation. Currently, EU visa policy is mainly focusing on the bona fide third-country national applicant only. Pearle* is of the opinion that it would merit to upgrade the status of the organisation inviting and hosting the third-country national. This would be in line with the objective for making Europe more accessible to bona fide travelers, contributing to Europe s prosperity and growth. In the context of culture, it is possible to provide information on host organisations, through employers associations or other professional organisation As the European Union developed Regional consular cooperation programmes and the setting up of common visa application centres, this has created in certain cases unwanted effects for hosting organisations. Often, performing arts organisations are in contact with the ministry of foreign affairs or through the cultural ministry. They do so to provide further information and to be of assistance in a visa procedure in a particular country from where a third-country national was applying. Due to the set up of common visa application centres, many Schengen states have reduced their own consular staff. As a result there is no longer a direct relation between the inviting country and the handling of a visa application of a third-country national. This is particular at a disadvantage for smaller countries and for their cultural activities, as it cannot be expected that the consular staff is aware of the various cultural organisations based in the countries for which it is also handling the applications. It could be possible for the sector to provide a list of host organisations, such as those that are member of an employers association or other professional association that can be consulted by consular staff. Those organisations would be considered as being bona fide organisations. Those bona fide organisations are following the collective agreements in the sector, or are subject to conditions to receive grants or subsidies for their cultural activities (for which they are subject to audits), or have 7 EU Questionnaire Improving procedures for obtaining short-stay Schengen visa, response of Pearle 17 June 2013 http://www.pearle.ws/_cms/files/file_sys_pdf_papers_document_58.pdf 5
committed to certain standards and quality assurance when being accepted as a member of a professional organisation. It would therefore be welcomed, should the EU in future Home affairs policies seek a better balance when evaluating an application, in the relationship between the applicant and the host organisation. Furthermore, it allows to keep record in view of developing statistics 8 on the sectors which invite thirdcountry nationals for economic purposes or others (such as in the context of culture). Flexible frameworks for (short) stay of third-country nationals in the context of their profession and employment. This would be in line with the aim of the European Union to develop a genuine common migration policy consisting of new and flexible frameworks for the admission of legal immigrants. Flexibility is necessary in a highly dynamic sector as the live performance. Planning may change due to possibilities to extend tours or accept invitations in other countries (inside Schengen or other EU countries). Both for visa exempt and visa due third-country nationals it is necessary to easily change and/or prolong the stay of a third-country national, whereby it is first and foremost necessary to make an end to the 90 day limitation of travelling in a 180 days period. Secondly, it should be possible for third-country nationals to renew a visa or extend their stay beyond the 180 day period without having to leave the Schengen zone for re-application. Thirdly, re-entry, that is when leaving the Schengen zone in the context of a tour or employment contract, should be facilitated for third-country nationals, even when they have not obtained yet a status of frequent traveler. 5. Specific remarks on migration policy A genuine migration policy that is adapted to the realities of sectors and the way in which they operate. The Stockholm programme has developed regulations which focus on particular groups or that have a particular aim. However this has created a two-level situation, whereby a wide range of other sectors cannot benefit from those regulations or own specific rules. 8 Stockholm programme point 4.3.3. 6
The European Union should clearly make a choice in either developing a migration policy or related regulations that benefit all sectors. Failing to do so, the EU should initiate new proposals for sectors with high mobility and specific needs. Pearle * has over the past years actively followed the proposals for directives such as on the highlyqualified immigrants (the so-called blue-card) and the proposal for a directive the seasonal employment. Such and other directives (the intra-corporate transferee directive or the directive on admission for the purpose of study), are in practice not of use in the live performance sector. More than ten years after the proposal of the Commission for a Directive on the conditions of admission and stay of third country workers, which was not adopted by Member States, and resulted in a green paper on an EU approach to managing economic migration, to which Pearle also responded 9, it would be desirable for the European Commission to draft a broad framework policy on economic migration. The employment of third-country nationals, often for a short period such as in the performing arts sector, has a positive impact on the sector itself, on local employment and the wider economy. This should be kept in mind, if the EU and its Member States are seeking for measures to contribute to growth and employment. 6. Specific remarks on relations with the EU with third countries In achieving better conditions for third country nationals travelling to the EU (/Schengen), reciprocally the EU needs to aims for similar conditions. As the EU allows visa exempt travelling for third-country nationals from specific countries, including for professional purposes, similar conditions should be aimed for. Being a highly mobile international sector, live performance organisations from the EU (sometimes including in their artistic cast or staff, third-country nationals), regularly travel around the world. It is welcomed that the EU has undertaken various visa facilitation programmes and aimed for visa waiver agreements. As already mentioned above, live performance organisations tour for professional reasons and therefore the access to other countries in the world is related to this objective. Since a number of years, Pearle* together with its social partners that represent performers has been asking attention for the specific problem of travelling to the USA. A main obstacle for EU performers is the lengthy, expensive and difficult procedure to obtain a visa, whereas sportspeople benefit from much easier access conditions. In its bilateral meetings and cooperation agreements with the USA, it is 9 Response of Pearle to Green paper on economic migration http://www.pearle.ws/en/positionpapers/detail/5 7
necessary to address this major obstacle. It is reminded that US performers enjoy already a much easier access to the Schengen zone. 8