A new study published by EY (formerly Ernst & Young) to the European Commission shows that cultural and creative industries are among the EU’s biggest employers and have experienced sustained growth even through recession. Jean-Noël Tronc, CEO of French authors’ society Sacem, commented that “The creative and cultural sectors are an integral part of the digital economy." No doubt that culture will kept as far as possible as an integral part of the Trans Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations between the US and the EU!
Over 1,1 Million people in the EU have already signed the Stop TTIP campaign.

The International Theatre Festival Baltic Circle was forced to censor the final scene of the piece Ceci n’est pas… (This is not my body) by Dries Verhoeven at Lasipalatsi square in Helsinki on Sunday November 16. The police denied permission to present the artwork in its original form. “As a festival festival director, I am ashamed that Helsinki is the only one of the eight cities where this artwork has been censored” – Eva Neklyaeva, the director of the Baltic Circle Festival.

Many European culture organisations and political groups made clear statements against the nomination of the Hungarian politician Navracsics to the new Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth, and citizenship. The "Stop Tibor Navracsics" campaign on change.org campaign has collected 1850 supporters. Update: MEPs rejected Navracsics, but he could still be commissioner for other resorts.
The Hungarian Association of Independent Performing Artists wrote an open letter to the Members of the European Paliament which we received via the International Theatre Critics Association (IACT):

Teatro Valle Occupato, awarded with Princes-Margriet-Award of the European Cultureal Foundation this year, proposed a new model of a city theatre for the next three years based on an open and transparent process involving the City, the Teatro di Roma and the 5600 members of the Fondazione Bene Comune (the Foundation for the Commons). Now, the theatre is close before eviction by police. AVAAZ started a campaign, please, sign here

Via the Danish ITI centre (thank you, Susanne) we received a report about the present situation of theatre and theatre artists in Greece.  Read "Greeak Art in State of Emergency" by Elli Papakonstantinou, artistic director of "Vyrsodepseio" network and performance space, Athens/Greece.