Early birds. Hol született meg a legkorábban a kormányzati segítség a bajba jutott fesztiválok számára? A Pearle, és még inkább az On-the-Move, két európai kulturális szervezet folyamatosan gyűjti a járvánnyal kapcsolatos híreket. Néhány országban már márciusban életbe léptek a kézzel fogható támogatás formái. Ezekből szedtünk össze néhányat angolul.

Croatia

The Croatian Ministry of Culture has established a Crisis Fund which will include funds for cultural workers whose projects have been delayed. Those who have lost their work due to the crisis will be given grants up HRK 1,625-3,250 for a period of three months from 1 April. https://www.bypgroup.com/blog/2020/3/21/government-arts-responses-to-covid-19?fbclid=IwAR2UyFZax-Om7Ejhlj92cdf115Jf75wYWUOElK0oAMWQDiMdu9cP5CRN7Do

Support for the preservation of jobs in activities affected by the Coronavirus. This measure is intended for entrepreneurs from the cultural sector and for persons who, within the cultural and creative sectors, carry out an activity independently and pay the contributions of compulsory insurance (pension and health insurance), such as independent artists, journalists, etc., which, due to circumstances such as the cancellation of cultural events, events, performances, concerts, exhibitions, festivals, etc., have remained without regular sources of income. Employers who can prove the impact of special COVID-19 circumstances on their activities will be eligible for assistance of EUR 433 per full-time worker and EUR 216 per part-time worker. This measure is managed by the Croatian Employment Service and the total fund for all the sectors is EUR 666 million. https://www.culturalpolicies.net/covid-19/

Estonia

The state compensates the direct costs of events (culture and sports) cancelled due to the coronavirus in March-April, up to EUR 3 million.
The Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund will cover the wage reduction within the labour market under the following conditions: 1) the benefit can be used by a compliant employer to cover the period of two months, from March to May 2020; 2) the benefit of no more than EUR 1000 per month per employee in need of support is paid in gross amount; 3) the benefit is calculated based on the gross wage of the employee in the previous 12 months, plus remuneration for the employee by the employer which should be a minimum of EUR 150 in gross amount. The Unemployment Insurance Fund and the employer will pay all labour taxes on wages and benefits.
For the period March-May, the state will compensate the first three days (that were not already compensated) of sick leave for all incapacity leave applications.
Self-employed persons are subject to an advance social tax support measure: they do not need to pay social tax for the first quarter. https://www.culturalpolicies.net/covid-19/

Great Britain

The Chancellor of the Exchequer acknowledged that the cultural sector would be one of those seriously affected by the impact of the virus and promised support measures worth £330 billion for businesses, including those in the creative and cultural sector. This will include loans, exemptions from business rates for a period and, significantly, paying companies up to 80% of employee salaries for three months if they do not make staff redundant. It is understood that British Actors Equity petitioned the Chancellor to include performers and managers on standard contracts to be included in the Government’s job retention scheme.

Particular concern has been expressed about the position of freelance workers, who constitute about 40% of the creative and cultural workforce. The Chairperson to the Parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee requested the Culture Secretary indicate what financial assistance would be given to freelance workers in the sector. Subsequently, the Chancellor promised freelance workers in the sector would be entitled, for three months, to 80% of their average monthly earnings over the past three financial years, but with a ceiling of £2,500 a month, The Government expectation is that up to 95% of freelancers in all areas will be covered by this arrangement. However, as so much work is involved, there are concerns that the payment calculations could take several weeks or months before the money feeds into bank accounts. https://www.culturalpolicies.net/covid-19/

Finland

The Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Education and Culture, and the Finnish Centre for Art Promotion will jointly provide rapid support to arts and cultural professionals in distress due to COVID-19.. Approximately 1.5 million euros will be distributed through the Arts Promotion Centre (Taike) in April. This money will come from both government and four foundations

Denmark

The Danish government has announced:

  • Compensation for companies’ fixed costs
  • Compensation for self-employed persons who experience more than 30% decrease in revenue as a result of COVID-19. The government will provide 75% of the loss of revenue, up to a maximum of DKK 23,000 per month, for three months.. The compensation may amount to DKK 34,500 per person per month if the self-employed person employs their spouse. This is targeted at sole traders and companies employing fewer than 10 employees.
  • Support for private companies to keep workers on furlough
  • Compensation if you had to cancel an event from 6-30 March for more than 1,000 people (or 500 people if the event was targeting COVID-19 high risk groups)
  • Temporary deferral of tax payments https://www.bypgroup.com/blog/2020/3/21/government-arts-responses-to-covid-19?fbclid=IwAR2UyFZax-Om7Ejhlj92cdf115Jf75wYWUOElK0oAMWQDiMdu9cP5CRN7Do