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On 15 December, the European Social Dialogue Committee on Live Performance convened for its final meeting of 2017. The agenda included mobility, training and skills, promotion of social dialogue, and gender equality. Earlier in the year the Committee drafted a joint letter on double taxation, which was sent to two Commissioners, with the aim of eventually abolishing the unequal treatment of artists when it comes to cross-border work. In the Plenary the Committee agreed to keep working on double taxation and agreed on further actions. On training and skills, the Committee heard an update on the TALQ project in which Pearle and UNI MEI are engaged and which is now coming to an end. Pearle and UNI MEI endorsed a common position in which they support the findings of the project and the way forward as suggested in the findings. On gender equality, the Committee heard from a French organisation that focuses on the social protection of professionals of media and live performance, as well as presentations from Belgium and the UK on campaigns against harassment in the workplace. The Committee also agreed to look into developing an assessment tool for the sector, based on an Irish model, to combat harassment and promote equality in the workplace. As promoting social dialogue is a key element in the work of the Committee, the European Social Partners discussed a joint project proposal and agreed to submit such a proposal in the spring of 2018. The aim of such joint action will be to research the commercial live performance sector in a chosen few project countries, to understand how the sector is structured, what is the status of social dialogue in these countries, and what are the steps that need to be taken to improve social dialogue.

The new work programme for 2018-2019, while keeping many on-going issues such as mobility on the agenda, will also put a new focus on gender equality and anti-discrimination.