This report examines aspects of artists’ and creative sector professionals’ status and social security, fair practice, skills and life-long learning and artistic freedom.

The European Parliament’s culture and employment  committees called for a new framework to be put in place to ensure fair pay, facilitate cross-border mobility and dismantle structural imbalances and abuses affecting creative workers across the EU. They call on the European Commission to encourage and support member states to introduce a so-called “status of the artist” that would guarantee better social protections.

Many artists and cultural and creative professionals face precarious working conditions, low, irregular and unpredictable incomes, high levels of self-employment, project-based careers and a lack of legal structures.

The scope of this report is the status and working conditions of artists and cultural and creative professionals, taking into account the wider ecosystem supporting artists and cultural and creative professionals.

It provides a collection of good practice for advancing further policy learning and development, as well as policy recommendations.

The target groups of this report are primarily policymakers at European, national, regional and local levels from different policy areas, including beyond employment/social affairs and culture, as well as CCS professionals, academics and others interested in the topic.

Readers will hopefully be inspired by this report and use it as a source of information and a basis for further assessments of possible ways forward to improve artists and creative sectors professionals’ working conditions in their respective countries.

The report is available here.