EIBF and FEP call on the EU Ministers of Culture to support the book sector

Booksellers and publishers call for support ahead of the video conference of culture ministers from 27 EU member states

The cultural and creative sectors have already suffered from a negative economic impact as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. They are facing unprecedented challenges now and in the long term, particularly in the light of a possible second wave of the pandemic.

The EU ministers for culture are meeting to review measures implemented to support the culture and creative sectors, and discuss further action in support of the industry. Ahead of the meeting, the European and International Booksellers Federation, together with the Federation of European Publishers, is sharing possible measures to help the book sector recover.  

We are proposing two measures that could immediately bring relief to the actors in the book industry, thus helping them to deal with the negative impacts of the COVID-19 crisis: 

     •    Book vouchers
Book voucher scheme is designed for citizens to buy books (print, digital, and audio) from their local bookshops. Such a voucher will be an incentive for citizens to have access to more books and will create positive market conditions for the sector – authors, booksellers, publishers, and translators. 

     •    Public purchase of books 
This scheme looks at massive purchase of books (in all formats) on behalf of public institutions (libraries, schools, etc.). Such a scheme will revitalise the entire book value chain while replenishing and updating the collections of libraries, schools and other institutions, and ultimately increase citizens’ access to books.

Find out more about these two proposals in the attachments.