2024-04-26 00:33:20
The conditions under which people working in the cultural sphere will be able to apply for artist status were approved by the government this Wednesday. The amendment to the law is mainly intended to help those outside of employment relations, i.e. freelancers. Minister of Culture Martin Baxa from ODS informed about the approval after the cabinet meeting.
His office’s proposal includes a definition of the so-called artist status. He expects that the support of artists will cost the state 126 million kroner annually, especially in the form of art scholarships. It should concern approximately 1400 of them, according to the documents on the proposal on the government’s website.
The necessity of legislative introduction of the artist status has been talked about since the coronavirus pandemic, when state measures significantly limited the possibility of cultural production. Amendment to Act No. 203/2006 Coll. about some types of cultural support could apply from January 1 next year, will now head to the Chamber of Deputies.
According to Minister Martin Baxa, the proposal is based on practice in other European countries and reflects the specific position of artists who do not have employment relationships. It also includes a mechanism to help them get support in emergency situations.
They will now be able to register in the register of artists, which will be established by the Ministry of Culture. On the basis of the submitted application, those who performed artistic activity for at least 24 months of the last three years will be able to be entered there. In order to receive the allowance, he must not be a student and at the time of application he must not be in an employment relationship that exceeds half of the weekly working hours. At the same time, his income from artistic activities for the last two years should make up at least half of his total income and should not exceed the average salary.
According to the proposal, the Ministry will announce a selection procedure for the provision of scholarships at least once a year, including the rules and deadline for applying for a scholarship. “The draft law defines the term artist, which also includes persons performing activities without which the realization of an artistic activity would be unthinkable. For example, lighting, sound engineers, costume designers and the like,” adds Jana Zechmeisterová, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Culture.
The standard is mainly intended to help people who are engaged in artistic activities mainly outside of employment relations. “From the collected basic analyses, it follows that this is the most endangered group of artists who face a number of disadvantages and obstacles in the performance of their profession,” the documents of the law state.
The introduction of artist status is part of the National Recovery Plan, which defines reforms and investments for the implementation of which money will be provided by the European Union.
“Legislative anchoring of the status of the artist is one of the tasks that are anchored in the National Recovery Plan. It is necessary to fulfill it so that the drawing of funds from the National Recovery Plan is not threatened. The Ministry of Culture has chosen the path adequate to the current situation, when the conditions for obtaining scholarships are adjusted We consider the introduction of artist status to be a key step from which to create further measures in the future,” adds Martin Baxa. He collaborated on the design with, among others, the Institute of Arts – Theater Institute.
The National Recovery Plan was created to mitigate the effects of the covid-19 epidemic and restart the economy with the use of European money from the grant section called the Tools for Recovery and Resilience of the European Union in the years 2021 to 2027.
Last September, the European Commission approved its revised form and, at the same time, an increase in the amount of money intended for the Czech Republic by 2.2 billion euros to 9.2 billion euros, which translates to about 232.5 billion crowns.
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