As foreseen in the Work Plan for Culture 2011-2014, the European Commission set up in May 2011 an EU expert group on mobility information standards to develop common content and quality standards for information and advice relating to the mobility of artists and cultural professionals. The group was composed of representatives from the culture ministries of EU Member States and representatives of European cultural sector organisations from all arts disciplines who have proven experience of dealing with the mobility of artists and cultural professionals (including On the Move).
The present document, entitled information standards for the mobility of artists and cultural professionals, is the result of this expert group’s work and was conducted from May 2011 to December 2011.
The main target group of these information standards are policy makers in the EU Member States. The standards provide them with practical guidance for setting up information services by identifying mobility related issues for which the availability of information at national level would benefit outgoing artists and cultural professionals, as well as those coming from abroad (from EU and non-EU countries). Ultimately the information provided as a result of applying these standards will benefit cultural organisations, individual artists, cultural professionals, and small-scale cultural enterprises which are mobile or wish to be mobile across borders.
The information standards include two parts:
- Part 1 includes a prioritised list of information topics which are relevant to the mobility across borders of artists and cultural professionals and for which information needs to be made available at national level. The annex 1 provides further insight into how detailed information would ideally be made available.
- Part 2 includes content guidelines on customised information for cultural mobility, including a set of recommendations on how to make quality information available at national level and for other EU countries, as well as an open list of best practice on how to overcome difficulties in information provision.
Any support to the dissemination of this important policy document is warmly welcomed.