New challenges for circus as part of the European culture

 The committee adopted the own-initiative report by Doris PACK (EPP-ED, DE) on new challenges for the circus as part of European culture. The report highlighted the fact that cross-border mobility was a key feature of circuses and that circus activities, which are currently regulated at national level, should be the subject of EU measures. It also urged the Commission to introduce specific measures "to ensure that the circus is recognised as forming part of European culture".

The report also addressed the problem of schooling for children from travelling communities and called on the Commission to set up pilot projects to determine appropriate models for the education of such children. MEPs suggested that the projects should include developing and supporting e-learning and distance learning, developing concepts for independent/self-reliant learning, introducing pedagogical monitoring tools, developing a teacher profile for tutoring children from travelling communities, and the establishment of temporary measures to remedy the academic difficulties facing children of itinerant people.

The committee also recommended that a mandate be conferred upon the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) to prepare a comprehensive set of standards for mobile circus facilities and finalise current work on the Safety Standard for Temporary Structures (such as tents). This would result in harmonised standards, making it easier for circuses to move among the Member States, and thereby contribute to the conservation of the European classical circus as well as ensuring public safety.

Lastly, the Commission was urged to draw up a European regulation governing the issue of visa and work permits for peripatetic artists in order to eliminate existing conditions which are hard for artists with short-term contracts to meet (e.g. the requirement to prove that there is a lack of equally-qualified people within the EU). The report suggested that the new legislation should make it possible to issue short-term visas/residence permits valid for up to 12 months, while taking "due care" to ensure that these provisions are not abused for the purposes of human trafficking.