Γράφει: Παναγιώτης Σιδηρόπουλος

Brussels, 7^th April 2020

Dear Ministers of Culture of the European Union Member States, Dear Commissioner,

We hope you are all well.

As you meet tomorrow, we, representing European publishers, the first cultural industry in Europe, want you to know how terribly our sector has been hit by the crisis. New titles are cancelled (with dramatic consequences for the authors, the translators and the editors), and bookshops are mostly closed (whilst booksellers are finding smart solutions to deliver books and e-sales are growing, this is nowhere close to replacing the lost sales in shops). The sector has already suffered a cumulative loss of some 25% of the estimated 2020 turnover. We have prepared in Annex of this letter a first assessment based on the information we are gathering from our members.

Yet, despite their serious financial and logistical difficulties, European publishers are supporting society in general as well as their communities with many initiatives during the crisis. Examples are trade publishers promoting29-35 Chaussée d’Ixelles – 1050 Brussels Tel +32-2-770-11-10 info@fep-fee.eu – www.fep-fee.eu “reading-at-home” campaigns and supporting booksellers, or numerous educational publishers supporting schools with their digital content and didactic platforms, and there are many more.

In the coming days and months, in order to continue delivering benefit to society, the publishing sector needs concrete and urgent help. We call on all Member States to support their authors, publishers and booksellers with an array of measures. But there is also a role for the European Union. It is essential to move quickly: our sector needs both immediate measures, from the existing national EU budget, and medium-term measures to allow the industry to restart once the situation changes. In addition to the measures that are taken transversally for all companies, we ask that you commit to

• Fully finance the Creative Europe Programme as requested by the Parliament and within it a specific budget line dedicated to books;
• Upgrade the Financial Guarantee dedicated to the creative sectors so as to cover the urgent liquidity needs of enterprises in the publishing value-chain;
• Ensure that any EU money earmarked to help address the crisis includes funds dedicated to the cultural sectors, including the book sector;
• Support financially the entire book value chain to help it cope with the immediate effect of the crisis;
• Step up public investments in buying books for institutions, particularly libraries in order to restore the sustainability of the sector.

We often hear: Books and culture are important for the future of Europe; they are a core asset of the European economy. Today is the time to demonstrate that the book sector is really a priority for Europe. We are counting on you.

Stay safe, yours sincerely

Rudy Vanschoonbeek
President

Copy: Mrs Sabine Verheyen, President of Culture Committee of the European Parliament

FEP members:

AUSTRIA - HAUPTVERBAND DES ÖSTERREICHISCHEN BUCHHANDELS - BELGIUM – GROEP ALGEMENE UITGEVERS & GROEP EDUCATIEVE EN WETENSCHAPPELIJKE UITGEVERS - ASSOCIATION DES EDITEURS BELGES - BULGARIA - АСОЦИАЦИЯ БЪЛГАРСКА КНИГА - CZECH REPUBLIC - SVAZ ČESKÝCH KNIHKUPCŮ A NAKLADATELŮ DENMARK – DANSKE FORLAG ESTONIA - EESTI KIRJASTUSTE LIIT - FINLAND - SUOMEN KUSTANNUSYHDISTYS FRANCE - SYNDICAT NATIONAL DE L'EDITION - GERMANY - BÖRSENVEREIN DES DEUTSCHEN BUCHHANDELS - GREECE – COOPERATION OF GREEK BOOK PUBLISHER ASSOCIATIONS - HUNGARY - MAGYAR KÖNYVKIADOK ES KÖNYVTERJESZTOK EGYESÜLESE - ICELAND - FELAG ÍSLENSKRA BOKAUTGEFENDA - IRELAND – PUBLISHING IRELAND - ITALY - ASSOCIAZIONE ITALIANA EDITORI - LATVIA - LATVIJAS GRĀMATIZDEVĒJU ASOCIĀCIJA - LITHUANIA - LIETUVOS LEIDËJØ ASOCIACIJA - LUXEMBOURG - FEDERATION LUXEMBOURGEOISE DES EDITEURS DE LIVRES - THE NETHERLANDS – DE MEDIAFEDERATIE - NORWAY - DEN NORSKE FORLEGGERFORENING - POLAND - POLSKA IZBA KSIĄŻKI - PORTUGAL - ASSOCIAÇAO PORTUGUESA DE EDITORES E LIVREIROS - ROMANIA - FEDERAŢIA EDITORILOR DIN ROMÂNIA - SERBIA - СРПСКО УДРУЖЕЊЕ ИЗДАВАЧА И КЊИЖАРА SLOVAKIA - ZDRUŽENIE VYDAVATEĽOV A KNÍHKUPCOV SLOVENSKEJ REPUBLIKY - SLOVENIA – GOSPODARSKA ZBORNICA SLOVENIJE - SPAIN - FEDERACION DE GREMIOS DE EDITORES DE ESPAÑA - SWEDEN - SVENSKA FÖRLÄGGARE FÖRENINGEN - UNITED KINGDOM - THE PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION

29-35 Chaussée d’Ixelles – 1050 Brussels
Tel +32-2-770-11-10
info@fep-fee.eu – www.fep-fee.eu