Regulatory framework

Labour relations at European level are facilitated by the European Commission through the European Social Dialogue. "Social dialogue" means all types of negotiation, consultation or exchange of information between, or among, representatives of governments, employers and workers, on issues of common interest relating to economic, employment and social policy. It exists as bipartite relations between labour and management, including collective bargaining, or as a tripartite process, with public authorities as an official party to the dialogue.

Promoting social dialogue is a common objective of the EU and its Member States, taking into account the diversity of national systems and respecting the autonomy of social partners. The EU is required to consult social partners according to art 154 TFEU on a range of social policy issues set out in Article 153 of the Treaty, such as on working conditions, and occupational health and safety.

The Commission promotes social dialogue at the EU level:

• by supporting the work of the cross-industry Social Dialogue Committee and the 44 Sectoral Social Dialogue Committees
• by involving social partners in policy- and lawmaking
• by providing financial support to transnational projects carried out by social partners through the two social dialogue call for proposals (support for social dialogue, information and training measure for workers’ organisations).

The Live Performance sector has had a sectoral dialogue since 1999. It brings together European Live Performance employers’ association Pearle* - Live Performance Europe and three trade union Federations – the International Federation of Actors (FIA), the International Federation of Musicians (FIM) and the Media, Entertainment & Arts sector of UNI Europa (EURO-MEI). Together these three form the European Arts & Entertainment Alliance (EAEA). There is also a European sectoral social dialogue committee for the audiovisual sector that was set up in 2004.

The Audiovisual sector has had a sectoral social dialogue since 2004. It is composed, on the employers’ side, of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the European Audiovisual Production association (CEPI), the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF), the Association of European Radios (AER) and the Association of Commercial Television and Video on Demand Services in Europe (ACT). The workers’ delegation is composed of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), FIA, FIM, and EURO-MEI.

These European social partners meet three times yearly with delegations of affiliates in Brussels, hosted by the DG Employment of the European Commission. They regularly produce joint positions, as well as sectoral guides, tools and resources using project funding. Jointly issued social partner documents are published in the European Social Dialogue Texts Database. Project outcomes are highlighted on the social partner websites and in this database. Social partners regularly join forces on (regulatory) issues of common concern in other EU policy areas impacting the sector.

Sources:
Pearle*: https://www.pearle.eu/
FIA: www.fia-actors.com
FIM: https://www.fim-musicians.org/
UNI MEI: https://uniglobalunion.org/about/sectors/media-entertainment/
EBU:  https://www.ebu.ch/home
EFJ :  https://europeanjournalists.org/
ACT :  https://www.acte.be/
AER :  https://www.aereurope.org/
CEPI :  https://www.cepi-producers.eu/
FIAPF: https://fiapf.org/
European Social Dialogue:  https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies-and-activities/eu-employment-policies/social-dialogue/cross-industry-and-sectoral-social-dialogue_en
European Social Dialogue Texts Database:  https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies-and-activities/eu-employment-policies/social-dialogue/social-dialogue-texts-database_en
 

Fair practice

European Social Partners have held exchanges on this topic sharing good practice examples in their joint meetings. They have had an active dialogue with the European Commission on the follow up to the European Parliament INI LEG report on the Living and Working Conditions of Artists and Cultural Workers since 2023 and are closely involved in the various research, exchange and good practice initiatives at European level arising from it.  

On the trade union side, there have been a number of projects aiming to look at ways to raise standards and improve working conditions for freelance and self-employed workers, with an increasing focus also on work carried out in the digital sphere. 
This led to the 2023 Project Publication: Digital Working in the Media, Arts & Entertainment Sector: Challenges and Opportunities. 

The trade union Federations continue to actively promote good practice on improving working conditions for freelance and self-employed workers with ongoing events for affiliates and a study currently underway on the impact of AI on work in the sector (publication in 2026).

On the employer side, a study was conducted which was led by the HIVA-KULeuven, on “cross-border employment in the live performance sector: exploring the social security of highly mobile workers”, including the publication of practical infographics, as an outcome of the Mobilive project, finalized in 2021.

Sources:
European Parliament INI LEG report:  https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20231117IPR12106/status-of-the-artist-better-working-conditions-for-artists-and-cultural-workers
Digital Working in the Media, Arts & Entertainment Sector:  https://fia-actors.com/2023/08/08/report-digital-working-in-the-media-arts-entertainment-sector-challenges-and-opportunities/
Mobilive Project:  https://www.pearle.eu/activity/mobilive
 

Representation & collective
bargaining

European Social Partners also have an important role in promoting social dialogue and collective bargaining at the national level, mostly through information sharing, capacity building and peer learning. They have done so since the enlargement of the EU as early as from 2001 through targeted visits in different countries of the EU and mapping of the social dialogue structures in the different member states in various reports, and consecutive series of projects.

In June 2025, the European Social Partners in the Live Performance sector launched an online database offering an overview of collective agreements and social partner initiatives across Europe in the sector. The database results from a joint project between and was developed through a 2024 survey of national social partners throughout Europe. This living resource compiles a wide range of collective bargaining agreements, joint initiatives, and success stories. It aims to build collective knowledge on key issues shaping the sector, including skills & training, health and safety, pensions, counselling, working conditions, among others.

The database is structured in two parts:

• The first references collective bargaining agreements at national, sectoral, or company level, with advanced filters by country, topic, and signatory partners.
• The second highlights initiatives by national social partners, including actions on skills and training, health and safety, pensions, working conditions, gender equality, and more.

The database gives greater insight into the role played by trade unions and employers associations in upholding living and working conditions in the live performance sector across Europe. The platform will be continuously updated and remains open for contributions from national social partners wishing to share their agreements and initiatives.

Sources:
The European Social Partner Database – Strengthening capacities in the Live Performance Sector
 

Equal treatment and safety

Equal Treatment:
From 2020 to 2022 the European Social Partners in the Live Performance sector undertook a European project focused on advancing gender equality across all areas of work in the sector. This work delivered a website and resource centre, launched in 2022 to bring together the outcomes of the European Project: ‘Gender Equality on and off the Stage: A Mapping Project of the European Live Performance Sector’. Key among these is a collection of good practice examples pertaining to gender equality in the Live Performance sector across Europe. Many are social partner initiatives, or projects which involve them, presenting a useful addition to other existing resources in the cultural sector. They are presented in an interactive, searchable database and you can read more about the methodology for the selection and inclusion of the good practices, as well as search the database, in the dedicated web section. This collection presents the most relevant and recent practices in a standardised format. They span a broad range of examples including legal and policy measures, initiatives and agreements of social partners, actions by civil society and artistic movements, all dedicated to promoting gender equality in the live performance sector. A specific focus includes the impact of the Covid-crisis on women, and the topic of transgressive behavior.

Elsewhere on the website you will find a brief explanation of the general context of the project and the methodology used; a wealth of recordings and resources arising from the four online Gender Equality Thursday webinars held in the course of the project; as well as some overall reflections and a list of useful resources regarding Gender Equality in the Live Performance sector. 

Sources:
https://gender-equality-onandoffstage.eu/en/


The European social partners in the Audiovisual sector also cooperate to promote gender equality, diversity and inclusion in broadcasting and audiovisual productions. 
In 2011 they adopted a Framework of Actions on gender equality that put forward joint considerations and recommendations for actions in five key areas: gender portrayal, equality of pay, equality in decision making, gender roles in the workplace, and reconciliation of work and private life. In 2018, they launched a joint mapping exercise to collect information on the state-of-play and to identify the actions still needed to keep pushing for equality. The result of this work was published in May 2020 in the form of a Good Practice Handbook. In 2023 they updated the Framework of Actions on gender equality and added a new chapter dedicated to the elimination of bullying, harassment, and sexual harassment at work.  In 2022 they implemented a 2-year project to improve the capacity of the industry to implement diversity policies. In 2025 they published a Framework of Actions (FoA) on diversity and inclusion.

Source: 
https://www.equalitydiversityinavsector.eu/ 

Occupational Health and Safety:
The European Social Partners are committed to promoting the highest standards in health and safety in Live Performance workplaces in Europe. This is reflected in regular good practice exchanges in their programme of work pertaining to all aspects of health and safety in the sector. 

They have also joined hands with the European Agency for Occupational Health and Safety (EU-OSHA) to develop and make available European Online Interactive Risk Assessment (OIRA) tools for their sectors. These OIRA tools are practical planning tools which guide users through a systematic risk assessment process enabling them to anticipate and prevent or mitigate health and safety risks throughout all parts of the workplace and production process. 

Undertaking such a risk assessment is a legal obligation for employers, in collaboration with the workers, and an OIRA tool can help them ensure that it is carried out in a rigourous and thorough way with targeted support, as the tool offers suggested approaches and solutions to the risks identified. It is also geared towards being a user-friendly, accessible and easy to use tool. This is briefly explained in a short video introduction to the OIRA tools for the Live Performance sector. 

The two European tools in the Live Performance sector (for Venues and for Productions) that were developed by the European social partners have also served as a template and a starting point for national social partners to develop their own tools. This has already taken place in countries including Spain, Greece, Belgium and Finland. These countries have a national tool, in their national languages and fully in line with national regulatory frameworks. All tools are available and free to access and use on the OIRA website. The European social partners in the Live Performance sector have begun a process of updating these tools (including an additional module on psycho-social risks).

European social partners in the audiovisual sector have also created a European OIRA tool for audiovisual productions. It is currently being reviewed and updated to cover, among other important topics, the prevention of psychosocial risks including the prevention of harassment, sexual harassment and violence. 

Sources:
Video introduction to OIRA in the Live Performance sector:  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhMEmIq03YM

OIRA website : https://oira.osha.europa.eu/en/about-oira
OIRA tools :  https://oira.osha.europa.eu/en/oira-tools
 

Overview

Supporting lifelong learning, upskilling and reskilling is a long standing priority for European Social Partners in Audiovisual and Live Performance sectors, and a key work strand of both sectoral social dialogue committees. In 2012, the European Platform for Employment and Training in the Audiovisual and Live Performance sectors -  Creative Skills Europe – was created. It is a platform where a wide range of stakeholders from the European audiovisual and live performance sectors meet: trade unions, employers’ organisations, national skills bodies, education & training providers, professional associations, etc. Their objective is to better adjust the sector training offer to the needs on the ground, to facilitate access to training for all types of workers at different moments of their careers, to contribute to the development of the sector and to secure professionals’ career paths. 

Sources: 
Creative Skills Europe Platfrom: https://www.creativeskillseurope.eu/
 

Policy framework

The involvement of European Social Partners in Audiovisual and Live Performance sector in regards to skills and lifelong learning feeds into different European Union’s political priorities on the matter such as: 

• The ‘Union of Skills’ initiative - providing opportunities for people to regularly update and learn new skills, attract, develop and retain talents in Europe, and building skills for quality life and jobs. 
• the first principle of the European Pillar of Social Rights - promoting and reinforcing the importance of access to education, training and lifelong learning for everybody, everywhere in the EU.
• the Pact to strengthen social dialogue in Europe - highlighting the role of social partners and social dialogue in providing our labour markets and economies with the adaptability required to meet the challenges and opportunities facing Europe, such as decarbonization and digitalisation, while making sure the workforce is equipped with the right skills.
• the Quality Jobs Roadmap -  promoting quality training and fair job transitions for both workers and the self-employed.

Support measures

For over a decade, Creative Skills Europe  collected and analysed existing data on employment trends and training needs in the European Audiovisual and Live performance sectors. It put in relation national sector skills councils in different EU countries and allowed them to network and share information. It offered a live and online platform on employment and training to a large panel of stakeholders that did not have the opportunity to exchange on that topic in the past (employers, unions, education and training bodies, professional associations, public employment services, ministries, etc.).  It highlighted and disseminated good practices both in the form of training tools and schemes, as well as in relation to funding models and industry partnerships at national and regional levels, that demonstrated their potential to increase access to training in the cultural and creative sectors 

In 2022, European social partners in Audiovisual and Live Performance Social Dialogue Committees adopted an EU Framework of Actions (FoA) on Skills in the European Audiovisual and Live Performance sectors. The FoA sets out the shared values, common objectives, and joint commitments of the social partners to support skills’ development in the European Audiovisual and Live Performance sectors. The document also encourages good practices and point towards different fields of actions at national and European level to further promote lifelong learning in both sectors.

Sources: 
EU Framework of Actions (FoA) on Skills in the European Audiovisual and Live Performance sectors: https://www.creativeskillseurope.eu/blog/2024/03/04/european-social-partners-adopt-a-framework-of-actions-on-skills-in-the-audiovisual-and-live-performance-sectors/
 

Sector initiatives

European Social Partners involved in Creative Skills Europe have been implicated since its creation in the the Creative Pact for Skills, a Europe-wide initiative that helps people in the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) — such as design, music, film, fashion, and architecture — gain the skills they need for the future. It is part of the EU’s wider Pact for Skills, which brings together businesses, educators, policymakers, and cultural organisations to reskill and upskill workers, so they are ready for the green transition, the digital shift, and other big changes shaping our society. The Creative Pact for Skills is run through a Large-Scale Partnership (LSP) — a network of more than 240 organisations working together across Europe. 

Creative Pact for Skills: https://creativepactforskills.eu/#about