The statistical office of the European Union (Eurostat) published the results of Eurobarometer public opinion survey with questions on culture. The publication includes chapters on cultural employment, enterprises and external trade, cultural expenditure and participation as well as a chapter on cultural sites and museums. In 2009, 1.5 million people worked as writers or artists, equivalent to 0.7% of total employment in the EU27.

The place of culture in European society can be seen from different angles, such as the number of people working as writers or artists, the percentage of tertiary students studying arts or the size of external trade in cultural goods. With regard to the students, highest shares of tertiary students in arts were found in the United Kingdom (6.8%), Ireland (6.6%), Finland (5.6%) and Cyprus (5.5%).

Also, there were more EU exports than imports with regard to cultural goods. In 2010, 0.6% of EU27 exports of goods and 0.4% of EU27 imports with the rest of the world were cultural goods. However, prices for books increased less than the average in the last five years.

Cross-cultural contacts were examined in this Eurobarometer public opinion survey too. This report shows that in 2007, 27% of persons aged 15 years and over had travelled abroad at least three times in the past three years 22% had family members living in another European country, 19% often watched television or movies in foreign languages, 9% read foreign-language newspapers and 7% read foreign books in their original language. Furthermore, it shows that Luxembourg, Sweden, Denmark, Malta and the Netherlands registered the highest percentage of the cross-cultural contacts. The proportion of these cross-cultural contacts varied considerably among Member States, with Luxembourg on top.

Culture Programme (2007-2013)

The European Commission has put in place a Culture Programme (2007- 2013) which includes many actions such as to promote the trans-national mobility of people working in the cultural sector, support the trans-national circulation of cultural and artistic works and products and promoting inter-cultural dialogue.