Music councils concerned about public cultural funding
Top representatives of the music councils from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Bavaria have presented Marcel Huber, Head of the Bavarian State Chancellery, with a position paper on the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) and the threat of privatization of public services.
During the handover, the Music Council representatives expressed great concern about the future of the music landscape in German-speaking countries in connection with the negotiations on the international agreements TTIP (free trade agreement) and TiSA (trade in services agreement).
Should public services be privatized through TiSA, public cultural funding and thus the foundation of the entire cultural landscape in Germany, Austria and Switzerland would be at risk, write the music councils.
Huber assured the councils that Germany was not planning any new market opening obligations in the areas of culture and media. The Bavarian state government is fully behind this. It was also important to him that the free trade agreement negotiations should be much more transparent.
TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) is the planned free trade agreement between the USA and the European Union. It is intended to improve trade in goods and services between the USA and the European Union, remove existing trade barriers and reduce low tariffs. In the cultural sector, the cultural industry is particularly affected alongside public cultural funding.
