The Education and Culture Committee (CULT) of the European Parliament responded earlier this month to the European Commission’s Communication “Promoting cultural and creative sectors for growth and jobs in the EU”, which was launched on 26 September last year. The Parliament’s response came in the typical form – a draft resolution – voted by the responsible Committee and bearing a very similar title to that of the Commission’s document, namely “Promoting the European cultural and creative sectors as sources of economic growth and jobs”. Like the earlier Communication, the Parliament’s draft resolution highlights the current economic contribution (between 3.3 and 4.8% of GDP and sustaining over 7 million jobs across the EU), as well as the growing potential to further reduce unemployment of the cultural and creative sectors. This quite encompassing term includes companies and other organisations active in the fields of architecture, artistic crafts, cultural heritage, design, festivals, film and television, music, performing and visual arts, archives and libraries, publishing and radio. While welcoming the Commission’s Communication, the parliamentary resolution raises a number of issues that should be further improved in the Commission text or given special attention. Amongst other points, the document advocates for the creation of a “social status for independent professionals” in these sectors, “to ensure that they have affordable access to health insurance, retirement pensions, social benefits and protection in the event of unemployment”. As for the role of higher education institutions, the resolution calls for universities and other types of training bodies to adapt their “training offer so as to foster a spirit of entrepreneurship in young people”, further specifying that “synergies between training and research centres and firms working in these sectors should be better exploited through knowledge alliances, skills alliances and professional platforms”. The resolution was prepared by a draft report, produced by the rapporteur for this dossier, the MEP Marie-Thérèse Sanchez-Schmid. Concerning the next steps, the President of the European Parliament is asked to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of EU member states, for further action. European Parliament - “Promoting the European cultural and creative sectors as sources of economic growth and jobs”