On June 3rd 2026, Patrick Le Brun, Secretary General of IRW-CGSP welcomed EuroFIA delegates to Namur, Belgium for the annual in-person meeting of the group. His opening address was a heartfelt and thought-provoking one. He noted that the region of Wallonie-Bruxelles has found itself facing austerity and that IRW CGSP is part of an ongoing struggle in solidarity against cuts that will do untold damage – with13 million to be cut in the area of culture alone. Small structures and centres will be the first to go. Artists’ social protection is under threat and the loss of their status would push them into poverty and precarity. He reflected that culture is a public service and a value for all, a mirror for society that feeds our minds and is the beating heart of cities and societies. Uniformization of thinking opens the door to the giant monopolies in culture which will crush the small independent players. Populist rhetoric in politics in Belgium (and indeed across Europe and the world) sets up a notional otherness of disconnected elites in order to discredit cultural actors, intellectuals, academics and critical media. Such attacks do damage, but we must take hope and artists are a vital part of this: reminding us of our shared humanity, creativity and the social message of art. Culture is a fundamental and emancipating right, needed now more than ever.
Patrick Le Brun’s inspiring words set the scene for 2,5 busy days of meetings for the group, including a series of highly topical panel discussions, to allow for the exchanges on the most pressing topics for the EuroFIA group. One of these was a special focus on the issues of freedom of artistic expression and the EuroFIA group welcomed two external guest speakers for the session. Anita Debaere is the director of Pearle* – Live Performance Europe, the European employers’ organisation for the Live Performance sector. Sverre Pedersen, is the director of Freemuse, a European NGO defending freedom of Artistic expression. The discussion panel was led by FIA Vice-President Simon Norrthon of Scen & Film, Sweden. Anita Debaere presented Pearle*’s work in this area. She recalled many recent instances of censorship and politicised firings etc in cultural institutions in Europe, as well as protests and violent incidents. In that context, Pearle* turned its attention to the legal framework in this area. She explored the content of the cookbook and the insight it gives into the bundle of rights that make up the right to freedom of artistic expression. It is tightly interwoven with cultural rights. The cookbook also goes through some key caselaw that sets out the legal parameters of artistic freedom. Sverre Pedersen, opened by highlighting that the situation is worse now than it has ever been since Freemuse started its work 27 years ago. Self-censorship is currently very widespread – people are scared by the general atmosphere and even radicalised audiences. In this atmosphere how can Art fulfil its role? As president of Freemuse, Sverre has a dual vision: firstly, Artists themselves have to get more active in this work; secondly, it needs to come into the education of students. Artists need to actually know their rights and national legislation should reflect the international human rights framework. But solidarity and networks are needed too. There is hope: in the strength of the Art itself. We need to counter the isolation that drives fear and self censorship. Documentation is also a tool we can use – also at the EU and the global level. Freemuse can ensure the centralisation of the information, with the strength of artists’ associations and federations. These can be the tools to create the counterforce.
Other panels were also convened on topics such as fairness mechanisms in collective bargaining to deliver better conditions for atypical workers, on digital replicas and creating the right framework for use and remuneration; on regulation of actors’ agents and their services; on fair conditions for self-taping; and a brief update on creating a Union app for membership matters. FIA extends its thanks to the EuroFIA group for the great engagement of all members in these discussions and the rich sharing of experience and knowledge. There were also extensive updates for the EuroFIA group on current European policy files, the European social dialogue and the associated project work in which FIA is engaged.
The EuroFIA also dedicated one day of its gathering to its annual joint meeting with Aepo-Artis members active in the Audiovisual sector. This exchange with the collecting societies was kindly supported by Belgian collecting society Playright and Playright opened the meeting and actively participated in the dedicated panel on the Beijing Treaty ratification in Europe. As usual, the meeting was a valuable deep dive on all the most pressing IP related issues, in particular AI and the need for a common strategy between unions and collecting societies. There was also an extensive exchange on the review of the DSM directive that is underway and the policy solutions that could be most usefully achieved from this process for the challenges of remuneration from streaming as well as future-proof solutions for the deployment and training of AI in the sector.
Next meetings of the EuroFIA group will be online on November 19th 2026 and in the Spring of 2027, hosted by SLC-CGIL in Rome, Italy.
