Unlocking the potential of cultural and creative industries

- welcomes the fact that with the Green Paper "Unlocking the potential of cultural and creative industries" the Commission has launched a European debate on the necessary conditions to improve the creative and innovative environment in Europe in order to stimulate the potential of cultural and creative industries, which is a generator of growth and employment;

- welcomes the increasing recognition at European level of the role played by cultural and creative industries in fostering creativity and innovation;

- observes that in most Member States local and regional authorities are responsible for sectors mentioned in the context of cultural and creative industries, especially culture, research, education, tourism and employment;

- stresses that the successful implementation of the flagship initiatives of the Europe 2020 Strategy – the Digital Agenda and the other initiatives – requires a bold innovative approach, and here the role of the creative industries is, in particular, to generate multidisciplinary and multicultural solutions. For this, Europe needs open-minded, pioneering players at local and regional level to create social innovations and the global business activity they help to engender.