I made a commitment to you on November 12 to hold two meetings.
annual of the National Council of Performing Professions, mark of my
commitment to social dialogue in this sector. I am therefore pleased to be able to
welcome you, as agreed, this morning for a new plenary session.
I am fully aware of the essential role that this body must play,
of the role it may have played in recent research in the
common and shared development of responses to challenges. I don’t need
of street pressure to act in favour of the performing professions, I have
need to exchange with you in a constructive and serene dialogue. And I
want to remain convinced that our dialogue today will be consistent with
everyone is entitled to expect it, in the interest of employers and employees of
sector, artists and technicians.
The first concern, which we shared, was fortunately lifted. It was
that of seeing the reform of local and regional authorities challenge the
partnerships on which the cultural life of our
territories. As you know, the National Assembly voted a few days ago
government amendment that preserves cultural jurisdiction
departments and regions. Some attribute the authorship of this
amendment. I have the weakness to think that I am not for nothing in this
government amendment ... Each of our territories thus retains its
capacity for action in cultural development. Some deny that, and I will come back to that.
The public finance situation, in a context of economic crisis, is
The Prime Minister, as you know, has asked all his ministers
forecast a 10% decrease in their expenses over the period 2011-2013. I
understand your concern and I take it seriously, as I take it seriously
my role as Minister of Culture and Communications. That is why I am
in particular these days, how much the sector can
cultural – and in particular the entertainment sector and related employment – is linked
public funding, and therefore more sensitive than many others, to the
developments. Believe me that I am also making the point that this sector – the
The 2003 crisis confirmed this if needed – has an economic impact, contributes
to growth and attractiveness, how creative he is, not only of dream and
of energy, certainly unquantifiable, but also of wealth and employment. Believe it
especially how I argue that cultural activity is just the right thing to do
especially in times of hardship because, as the
President of the Republic in his wishes to the world of culture in January
last: "One of the answers to the crisis is culture." I am fighting for this
relevant and informed choices in a country where the
Culture is the face and identity of the world.
Because culture is not like this “kiosk” lost and overloaded in
«the extreme tip of Kamchatka» that SAINTE-BEUVE wanted to see
in the work of BAUDELAIRE, it is not at the borders of the world
known, she is the beating heart of it. Far from being just a supplement
as we sometimes hear, culture is the very soul of a
democracy. I do not need to convince you, but know that it is
there my daily toil to make it felt and understand to the greatest
many of my interlocutors.
And this place that the State preserves to the culture, it belongs to the communities
to preserve it too, for the same reasons that I have just
to express. Highlight the removal of the business tax to
support for subsidy cuts in 2010 is a bad trial for the
reform of local authorities, a bad argument, but we
will speak with representatives of all elected associations
at the plenary meeting of the Council of
cultural development which I will preside over in the first days of July.
You have often raised the question of the model
the economic activity of the entertainment sector, including the performing arts, and
the necessary search for new sources of funding, which
may be added – and not, of course, substitute – to the effort
the State budget and the financing of local authorities to ensure the
development of this sector. It is in this spirit that I
will ask, in the coming days, a high magistrate of the Court
to complete the study on the economy and the financing of the
the first elements of which were sketched during the
Valois talks. I would like concrete proposals to be
by the end of October so that we can debate it at
of our next CNPS.
Finally, the prospect of renegotiating the insurance protocol
unemployment from the end of the year is also a cause
You may have noticed – I know my agenda is
monitored – that I have had exchanges in recent weeks with
actors who will be involved in this renegotiation at
interprofessional. No one can have certainties today,
given the economic context in which we find ourselves.
Nevertheless, I am reasonably optimistic about these exchanges
view of this deadline, but on the condition that the structuring of the
and that the commitments made after the 2003 crisis continue
by the social partners and by the State, actually produce their effects.
In the coming months we will have to be able to prove that the
progress is real. I will come back to this, but we will not leave, with
my colleague Eric WOERTH, two fields out of eight finish the year without
a signed collective agreement. So today is
further structuring of the sector we will be talking to, with Jean-
Denis COMBREXELLE, Director General of Labour representing
today with me Eric WOERTH with Mrs LAURE LAZAREHOLLY
. Jean-Denis COMBREXELLE, who has been
know, one of the main architects of this structuring.
Before discussing this crucial subject, I would like to return to the National Council
I am pleased to see that this is an active body.
The office of the CNPS operates regularly, under the chairmanship
of Georges-François HIRSCH, and helps to establish a continuous and
between the administrations and your representatives in the meantime
of our plenary sessions. You will find in your file the minutes
working sessions held since our last meeting
plenary.
The «employment commission», placed after the crisis of 2003 under the
Mr Claude SEIBEL, Inspector General of INSEE, chaired the
carried out in recent years an important collection, expertise and
production of statistical data on employment in the
live and recorded performance. This commission, thanks to
of all data producers and to the
of professional organizations, has set up a system
statistical information now producing, each year, a base of
data on employment, activity and enterprises in the sector. It
The Commission’s 2009 report – which is also included in the
in your file – is accountable, and needs to continue.
this commission, and this is the analysis that in fact Claude SEIBEL himself,
can now evolve and extend its scope of action to
economic problems. That is why I asked Mr.
Xavier GREFFE, Professor of Economics at the University of Paris I
Panthéon-Sorbonne, specialist in the economy of different sectors
In the future, I would like to chair this commission. It will
will succeed Claude SEIBEL who was unable to be with us today and
that I would like to thank here very warmly for his commitment
and for the decisive impetus he was able to give to the
this commission for seven years.
The CNPS also knows how to operate in the form of working groups, as
that was put in place to extend the work undertaken, in the
Valois Talks, on the structuring of employment in the
performing arts sector. This working group has
that many of you are committed to. This work
must now resume, under the leadership of Mr Philippe
GARO, new Deputy Director of Employment and Training at DGCA,
on the basis of a specific roadmap. The approach adopted by
this group, resolutely oriented towards the conditions of a
accountability of entertainment companies and the affirmation of their
nature of business, seems to me fundamental. In any case, I would like
reflection on an enterprise qualification hypothesis, on
employment aid schemes, on the link between public funding – from the State
communities – and employment, continues. I also hope that
these concerns are regularly reminded to all those who
would somehow be tempted to “do the angel”, as Blaise said
PASCAL, and to take into account in their choices only the
artistic criteria, essential of course, but not sufficient in a
area which is also an economic and social sector in its own right and which
claims to be such and rightly so.
Social dialogue must also be developed in the regions, so that
regional actors can take ownership of ongoing developments, and
territorial specificities are addressed at the most relevant level:
Regional Performing Professions Commissions (COREPS) in
some regions, performing arts conferences in others, in
through their plenaries or working groups, have enabled the
employment and training issues continue to
be apprehended locally, as close as possible to the realities on the ground.
I would now like to come to several themes related to structuring
of the entertainment sector, on which Jean-Denis COMBREXELLE,
provide useful clarification.
The collective bargaining operation, launched in 2005,
is vital for the sector. This is a sign of its ability to structure itself,
like any other sector, under clear and negotiated rules. As long as
two out of eight agreements will not be signed, we cannot
prove that this operation was successful. I want to say this with
force: it is necessary to succeed, and for this it is necessary that everyone put his own. I
know that you have held countless and exhausting meetings, that the
joint committee chairs mandated by the Ministry of Labour
spared their time; I also know that throughout this long
Jean-Denis COMBREXELLE, Georges-François HIRSCH and the
CNC worked to untie the nodes.
The negotiations have recently made progress in the
film production, all the means of the CNC are put, you the
know, available for this negotiation. I confirm that I
for my part in the next few days at their request
film producers. We must now lead this negotiation to its
term. This sector urgently needs conventional coverage
modern and adapted to new realities, which will support the
tremendous creative impulse that makes the strength and diversity of cinema
frenchman.
In private live entertainment too, the advances are real, and I know
several important meetings are held until early July. I
hopes that these meetings will be decisive. At the start of the school year, it is
that you should enter the conclusive phase.
Because I want to repeat it clearly: the will of the government is strong on
in both cases, he will be ready to assume his responsibilities
if the collective agreements were not signed in the fall, in
the well-understood interest of the live entertainment sector and recorded all
integer.
The fight against illegal work is also an important topic and an element
the existence of a specific insurance scheme
unemployment. As you know, over the past few years, the
steps have been taken in this direction. Following the commission
national campaign against illegal work last November, and in link
with you, a special action is carried out in the entertainment sector,
Jean-Denis Combrexelle will come back to this.
The accountability of the entertainment sector is also its
professionalization and its ability to take into account career paths
professionals in all their diversity. In this regard, the partners
The State and the social bodies in the sector have a large
number of advances in recent years. I think
the fund of professionalization and solidarity in its aid
social and professional, in addition to the
on which the sector is also engaged. I am also thinking
the action taken by the national joint committees «Employment
Training” of the sector. I am thinking of the implementation of the
performing arts, the creation of higher national degrees and the
structuring of higher education from live entertainment to all
territory.
Finally, I am thinking of continuing training, to which we refer
collectively a lot of attention, and it’s not Mr Jacques
Legendre who will contradict me! This crucial issue now has a
special news. On the one hand, we are inaugurating this afternoon the
AFDAS, a dynamic and innovative organization.
On the other hand, it is also today that is given to you, in the file of
this plenary, the report on the continuing training of artist authors,
carried out by the General Inspection of Cultural Affairs (IGAC), by
Mr KANCEL and Mr BUTAUD, at the same time as it is addressed to the
other stakeholders involved. This is an important report and I know
It is intended to remedy a deficiency, the one that
artists authors do not have, today, the effective possibility to benefit
rights to continuing training. The report
At this stage, of course, the recommendations only commit the authors:
setting up a training insurance fund from contributions
artists authors, broadcasters and a participation of the
collection and distribution of rights, and the management of this fund by a
AFDAS. These proposals, which seem to me
particularly interesting, must obviously be the subject of
consultations, which I ask the Directorate-General for
artistic creation to coordinate. They will also continue to be
experts at interdepartmental level, before decisions can be
be taken into account, given the specificities they entail. But I will
very attentive to what this subject, carrier of important social advances
the rights of important players in this sector, may
now move fast.
I am also particularly attentive to respect for the rights of
artists, and as such, concerned about what I hear about
consequences of the bad relations between ADAMI and SPEDIDAM. The
Ministry of Culture and Communication, which had brought its
support to the rapprochement of the two companies engaged by the protocol of
June 28, 2004, stands ready for any initiative that would
dialogue to ensure clear and secure distribution
rights of performers.
To meet the challenges it faces, the entertainment sector
benefits also from specific tools: the Guso, for example, which celebrates this
10 years and everyone knows how much it brings to the
operation of the sector. The show leave fund, of which it was
necessary to redefine the modes of operation, after a certain
number of difficulties and episodes that I hope are now behind
we. This subject has required a lot of work from its various protagonists
and it has come a long way since the announcements made at the November NPAC
thanks in particular to the involvement of FESAC, which I want to welcome
here. I hope that this issue will not again be hampered by
road accidents, he has experienced enough. Jean-Denis
COMBREXELLE will come back to this folder later. The tools
is the Medical Center of the Stock Exchange, whose
the evolution must be part of the reform of the
benefit from the very relevant analyses and recommendations of the
ASCI report, which you have summarized in your file
of today.
Since the crisis of 2003, the State, as you know, has added to the solidarity
a national solidarity share, in the form of the fund
professionalization and solidarity, a permanent system. Taking into account
I asked Michel LAGRAVE to
meet, before the end of June, the Steering Committee of the fund
President, to make a new point of situation, in particular as regards
concerns the conditions for the award of the termination allowance.
I would now like to say a few words, more specifically, about
the performing arts sector:
The Valois Talks gave rise to a lively dialogue between
all the stakeholders of the live show. You know,
I attach the greatest value to the follow-up of the recommendations that are derived from it.
A recent meeting of the Monitoring Committee, chaired by
Georges-François HIRSCH, has allowed its members to
progress update.
The Performing Arts Conferences in the regions are installed, or on the
progress report on the work undertaken by these
conferences will be held over the coming months and presented to
members of the Valois Meetings Monitoring Committee and, at its
next meeting, at the NPHC.
Drafting of the circular relating to institutions labelled or registered
in a network and related specifications was, for its part, a
long-term project. These texts are currently the subject of a
final reading by Committee members, before being broadcast, at the beginning
In July, Prefects and Regional Business Directors
cultural (DRAC).
Working groups on international outreach and
cooperation between the private and public theatre sectors will be reactivated. The
works on the common platform of observation of the live show go
continue after an update on the objectives and
methods. I expect everyone to participate in a constructive spirit,
so that the work can resume in a new serenity. The
establishment of a fourth working group, dedicated to the creation, the
production and dissemination, was decided: it will be constituted in the
next weeks and installed next fall.
You have also expressed a great deal on various occasions
concerns about the consequences of European texts – including
Services – Entertainment Industry Directive. It is true that, for
be able to notify Brussels of the terms of the
as part of the transposition of this directive, we have
had to agree to make several modifications, one of which must be
adopted by Parliament by the end of the year. These amendments are the
source of misunderstanding and concern, I know. But I am
yet convinced that this was the only way to preserve
the very existence of the license and gives us time, if we
Let us hope, to reflect together on an alternative device.
You also express concerns about securing our
subsidies to the entertainment sector, in the light of
state aid rules. I would like to reassure you about
this point. Support for creation will soon be the subject of a
notification to Brussels, in order to be fully secured from this point of
view, as they have been for other European countries. The
work, which you have wished to set up on these issues, will
will meet on June 30. It will provide an opportunity to take stock, in particular, of the
to the entertainment sector of the circular of 18 January 2010 relating to
relations between public authorities and associations, including one of the
objectives is precisely to clarify and secure the legal framework of
their financial relationships, particularly with respect to regulations
The European Union’s State aid policy.
I am also very attentive to the film and audiovisual sectors,
their development, their evolutions and their conditions
The European Union’s Employment Strategy, whether in the spotlight or not.
Audiovisual operators are currently negotiating
new collective agreements that are crucial to their
future.
Yesterday I was in Parliament for the examination of the
digitization of cinemas. I announced the establishment of a
strong support from the State for rooms that will have difficulties in financing their
digital equipment, to keep them active. Finally this week
A report on the economic situation of the
technical industries, with the support of Christine Lagarde and
of its services we will accompany in this delicate period of
transition to digital all.
You see, there is no shortage of subjects, we work, you
work, we work a lot together. And this method, founded
on dialogue and consultation, is, I am convinced, the one that
will collectively address the challenges best, and create
the conditions for a new impetus for the entertainment sector, a sector
essential to the cultural and economic vitality of our country.
Thank you for your attention, and I will now give the floor to the
Director General of Labour, Jean-Denis COMBREXELLE, before the
table.