Which role do creative sectors play in Europe?
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Creative sectors are among the most dynamic and innovative sectors in the EU economy. Furthermore, they are drivers in the transition towards a more sustainable and inclusive society and economy as they are increasingly invoked as key players when it comes to address global challenges, such as the shift to a more sustainable paradigm or the building of a resilient society.

How has Covid 19 impacted the sector?
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Before the Covid-19 crisis, cultural and creative industries represented 4.4% of EU GDP in terms of total turnover and their growth rate was estimated by 4% per year. According to EY¹ Report during the pandemic, creative sectors suffered a loss of 31% of their turnover. Their recovery is key for the European economy to become greener and more resilient.

^[1] www.rebuilding-europe.eu

What role do SMEs play?
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In the Communication “A new industrial strategy for Europe”, adopted in March 2020, the Commission has stressed the importance of supporting SMEs as they are the backbone of the European Economy. This is particularly true for the small companies in creative sectors as SMEs are dominating the CCIs, with micro-businesses and free-lancers representing 85% of all economic operators.

How to strengthen them?
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Cultural and creative companies/professionals rely on intangible assets (knowledge, ideas, IPR), which need to be protected and valued especially when they look for investors and loans or when they want to compete on global market.

What the key drivers are to make them competitive?
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Latest technological developments such as AI, AR, IoT and 3D printing are a field full of potential for the CCIs in terms of content creation, services, distribution and relation to end-users. Collaboration between creative sectors and tech industry should be supported at all level.

What does the WORTH project represent for the European Commission?
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The WORTH Partnership Project is the only Europe-wide accelerator programme that supports business partnerships with creatives to develop innovative business ideas. It is a testbed for cross-innovation between the creative and other industry sectors that has successfully incubated 152 partnerships. This is why the EU is about to launch the second phase of the project which will run until 2025.