RELIEVE SCHEME #2 FOR CULTURAL SECTOR: 482 MILLION

In addition to the previous relieve scheme of 300 million euros and the government’s generic relieve measures, Minister Van Engelshoven announced a second relieve scheme of a total of 482 million euros.

28/08/2020




The exact distribution of these funds currently remains undetermined. However, the Dutch Government has published a rough sketch:

  • € 200 million is a direct follow-up of the first relieve scheme, which runs until the 1st of July, 2020. These funds will be distributed over cultural institutions with crucial value to the national infrastructure, but also to artists and cultural professionals; the exact distribution of this € 200 million will be determined in the coming period;
  • € 14 million will be provided to cultural institutions with a positive advise but negative decision towards BIS-funding and other multi-annual subsidies, to bridge the period of six months until the next government takes seat;
  • € 20 million is reserved to support the upkeep of private museums and art collections of national interest;
  • € 15 million will be used, with the help of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, to support the ‘floating heritage’ of the historic fleet (bruine floot);
  • € 15 million will be made available in a guarantee fund for film productions and the kick-off of pilots that promote the flexibility and resilience of the sector;
  • € 150 million will enable municipal governments to support crucial, local infrastructure. This is suplementary to the € 68 million made available to compensate for the losses made by municipalities.

Furthermore, it is of great interest that Minister of Engelshoven is well-aware of the need for a substantial amount of this relieve scheme to directly benefit individual artists and culture workers. She draws lessons from the first relieve scheme, which did not have the desired trickle-down effects. In an interview in De Volkstrant (in Dutch), she states:

De hoofdmoot van het eerste pakket van 300 miljoen euro ging deze zomer naar gesubsidieerde instellingen zoals rijksmusea, de grote opera- en theatergezelschappen en symfonieorkesten. De gedachte was dat zij met die noodsteun werk zouden geven aan zzp’ers, waaruit 60 procent van het werkveld bestaat. Maar al snel was uit alle geledingen van de kunstwereld te horen dat het zo niet helemaal werkte. Zwart-witgesteld leek het kantoorpersoneel van de instellingen gered en stonden de makers in de kou.

Voor de aanvulling van 200 miljoen gaat Van Engelshoven nog kijken naar de verdeling tussen ‘kunstenaars en creatieve professionals’ en de instellingen. ‘De nood bij de makers is hoog is’, zegt van Engelshoven. ‘Ik heb nog geen oordeel over hoe het vorige pakket heeft uitgepakt, maar ik ga kritisch kijken of het voldoende bij de makers is beland. De kunsten hou je alleen levend als makers ook aan het werk kunnen.’




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