2. Executive summary
Hamburg
Malmö
Rotterdam
Eindhoven
Ruhr Area
Luxembourg
Lugano
Paris
Vicenza
Bilbao
Norfolk
London
Berlijn
Graz
Belgrado
Novi Sad
Warsaw
Nantes
Pecs
Istanbul
Athens
Amsterdam
Dublin
Bristol
Siena
Barcelona
Leeds
Tallinn
Helsinki
Kosice
Slovakia
Porto
Stockholm
The European Creative Business Network
(ECBN) is a network of creative development
agencies and creative centres. Our mission is
to support the cultural and creative industries
to do business and to collaborate across Eu-
rope.
These five principles for effective internationali-
sation have been developed by ECBN and our
members. By adopting them, ECBN, our mem-
bers and the European Commission can help
to ensure the effectiveness of the support they
give to Europe’s cultural and creative industries
to grow internationally.
Effective internationalisation...
• is led by individual businesses
• needs face-to-face interaction
• is for any competitive business
regardless of size or sector
• needs European support
• requires better data and evidence
April 2014
3. Who we are
The European Creative Business Network (ECBN) is a net-
work of creative development agencies and creative cen-
tres. Our mission is to support the cultural and creative in-
dustries to do business and to collaborate across Europe.
Through the resources, expertise and connections of our
members, we aim to enable creative enterprises, whatever
their size, to scale up and flourish within the world’s largest
market for creative goods and services.
We operate international exchange programmes, provide
informed local access to markets, and facilitate creative
trade missions. We work on European-funded projects that
support the cultural and creative industries to grow interna-
tionally.
Join us - www.ecbnetwork.eu
4. Internationalisation1
takes skills, time, money, contacts,
and knowledge to be successful. The absence of these
resources is a major barrier for businesses looking to grow
internationally, which we want to help the cultural and cre-
ative industries to overcome.
In the UK, only one in five creative businesses exports at
all. Yet we know that businesses that have international
operations grow more quickly, have higher rates of job cre-
ation, and are more innovative than those that don’t.
By adopting these principles ECBN, our members and the
European Commission can provide effective support for
our cultural and creative industries to internationalise. Ef-
fective internationalisation:
1 is led by individual businesses
2 needs face-to-face interaction
3 is for any competitive business, regard-
less of size or sector
4 needs European support
5 requires better data and evidence
1
When we refer to internationalisation, we mean developing
international activities both within and outside of Europe.”
ECBN’s
principles
for inter-
nationali-
sation
5. 1 Effective
internationalisation
is led by individual
businesses
ECBN will ensure our programmes are not one-size-fits-all
and that they are responsive to the individual business tak-
ing part. This means greater resources allocated to under-
standing each business’s unique context and needs.
The European Commission must trust creative agencies to
adapt programmes to the specific needs of the businesses
that they work with and know. Some funds will need to be
highly targeted at sectoral niches where particular opportu-
nities are identified.
The huge diversity of business types, aims, and models
in the cultural and creative industries means that tailored,
responsive programmes are needed to support internation-
alisation.
ECBN’s principles for
internationalisation
What this means
6. ECBN’s principles for
internationalisation
2 Effective
internationalisation
needs face-to-face
interaction
Despite the growing importance of the Internet and digital
technologies in how people communicate, particularly in
the creative sector, ECBN is convinced of the importance
of personal contact, dialogue and interaction in the physi-
cal realm. Evaluations of successful internationalisation
programmes show us that funding and facilitating face-to-
face trade missions, where businesses meet new clients or
collaborators over a drink, can have some of the highest
returns on investment.
ECBN will creative the right balance between on- and of-
fline meetings. We will pursue our activities such as trade
missions, exchange programmes, events and ensure they
are complemented by digital technologies by initiating the
relationships that electronic communications can then
build upon.
The European Commission should encourage the pro-
grammes they fund to make the most out of face-to-face
opportunities. Encourage experimentation beyond staid
seminars and bring in the latest models of interaction such
as OpenSpaces, Unconferences, or Labs, and follow this
with robust evaluation to see what works.
What this means
7. ECBN’s principles for
internationalisation
3 Internationalisa-
tion is for any compet-
itive business regard-
less of size or sector
Many businesses will benefit from internationalisation, but
it is far easier for large firms with greater resources to in-
vest. To address this imbalance, small businesses, creative
start-ups and young entrepreneurs should be helped to
connect, make partnerships and enter markets across Eu-
rope, and they should be encouraged to do so at an early
stage in their growth. To ensure this support is effective,
we should recognise that it is not enough to plant a busi-
ness in another territory and expect it to thrive. First, the
business must be competitive or helped to become so, and
this may mean supporting it to adopt advanced technolo-
gies, or in developing new and innovative business models.
Second, we know that internationalisation is a skill that
takes time to learn - entrepreneurs must be open, flexible,
accommodating, and resilient to succeed at internation-
alisation. So to ensure success, internationalisation pro-
grammes should also help guide businesses towards other
sources of support and guidance.
ECBN has a crucial role to play in helping smaller busi-
nesses to internationalise and realize their full potential.
Our proven approaches, our support structures, and our
facilitated development programmes mean we can have
a significant impact in supporting SMEs. Our approaches
– and our ties with other European and local programmes –
to making SMEs more competitive are also crucial in sup-
porting internationalisation.
The European Commission has made great progress
launching new programmes that are open and targeted at
SMEs, such as the Apps for Europe challenges, but more
needs to be done to make sure Horizon 2020 funds (and
others) are easily accessible by SMEs. There also needs to
be a strategic offer for businesses that helps them make
a sustained engagement in new markets, by supporting
them to undertake a longer, and more iterative, learning
process in them.
What this means
8. ECBN’s principles for
internationalisation
4 Effective
internationalisation
needs European
support
European programmes and regulations often have sup-
port for internationalisation embedded within them, but this
support needs to be made more prominent. For instance,
the European Capital of Culture programme has played a
major role in facilitating the internationalisation of the cul-
tural and creative industries, as demonstrated by Kosice
2013’s active entrepreneur exchange programme. Another
example is Europe’s shared – and enforced – framework for
intellectual property which provides a huge opportunity for
creative businesses looking to internationalise. But with-
out a more explicit emphasis on internationalisation within
these programmes, we cannot understand what provision
is already there and how our members can complement or
promote them.
ECBN will push the European Commission to become
bolder in its support of internationalisation. We will cam-
paign to make new funds, like those coming from Hori-
zon 2020, to be overt in their recognition of trans-national
partnerships and to ensure the major European cultural
programmes, like the European Capital of Culture, promote
their work in making internationalisation happen.
The European Commission should explicitly recognise that
internationalisation is, or should be, at the heart of all its
programmes and regulations, even technical ones such as
in the development of European regulations on intellectual
property.
What this means
9. ECBN’s principles for
internationalisation
5 Effective
internationalisation
requires better data
and evidence
The sector lacks evidence of the importance of interna-
tionalisation for the cultural and creative industries and the
effectiveness of the programmes that support it. We have
some limited evidence of exports (for instance, in data
already provided by UNCTAD) but programme evaluations
are rarely published, so we know little of what really works.
ECBN has an important role to play in collating evidence
and deepening our understanding of how internationalisa-
tion works. This should form the basis for advocacy and
debate, ensuring that the discussions, data, research and
case studies which remain scattered at a local level are
made accessible.
The European Commission should make a difference in
two ways. First, by funding more studies into internation-
alisation, building on the work of the OMC Group on In-
ternationalisation and the Policy Learning Platform of the
European Creative Industries Alliance. Second, by ensuring
that independent, accessible evaluation is conducted and
shared as a condition of its funding programmes. Without
a clearer understanding of what works, support for these
sectors will progress only slowly.
What this means
10. A reminder:
Why the
cultural and
creative
industries
matter
Europe’s cultural and creative industries
are a major driver of economic growth.
They are responsible for jobs and prosper-
ity and have significant indirect economic
benefits that make them a crucial compo-
nent of a successful economy.
In Europe, one in twenty workers are in the
cultural and creative industries
The cultural and creative industries are a broad and di-
verse sector which ranges from advertising and crafts to
performing arts and video games. In 2008 the cultural and
creative sectors contributed an estimated 4.5% to EU GDP,
and employed nearly 4% of Europe’s workforce. They are
also a growth sector, with global trade in creative goods
increasing at 9% each year in the decade prior to 2011.
Our cultural assets bring significant eco-
nomic advantages
Europe’s cultural heritage has a significant economic ben-
efit, as we know at ECBN from our work on the eCreative
project, which helps the creative industries to benefit from
Europeana’s rich digital content. Cultural meaning is also
an important part of Europe’s dominance of the luxury
goods market, of which European brands make up over
70%.
11. The cultural and creative industries help
drive innovation in our wider economy
In addition to direct economic value, the cultural and cre-
ative industries play a vital role in catalysing innovation
across the wider economy, whether through the products
and services they provide, or as a means of originating and
spreading new ideas, knowledge and ways of working. For
example, design and other creative services such as ad-
vertising are firmly integrated into the operations of almost
all businesses – from the development of new products
through to how they are marketed and sold. Design is no
longer an ‘add-on’ to manufacturing industries, but rather
the crucial determinant in how businesses achieve a com-
petitive advantage.
The sector helps create attractive places
that people want to visit and work in
The cultural and creative industries also have other, broad-
er economic linkages, with industries such as fashion,
music and film all strongly connected to leisure, retail and
tourism. More recently, the creative industries have been
closely associated with boosting civic pride, destination
marketing and regeneration.
12. How the Manifesto was developed
This manifesto was developed as a collaborative document; a working draft
was presented at the European Creative Business Network’s Policy Forum
on 06 February 2014.
Contributors
In particular, we are grateful to Mikolt Csap (DG Connect), Carsten
Schierenbeck (DG Enterprise and Industry), Dorota Nigge and Catherine
Magnant (DG Education and Culture), Tom Campbell (KTN (UK)), Ragnar
Sill (EE), Nesto Nongo and Faustina Diaz (Ministerio de Educación, Cultura
y Deporte (ES)) and all attendees at the ECBN Policy Forum for their
comments and thoughts.
We always welcome feedback to help steer our future work:
callum@ecbnetwork.eu
ECBN management team
Leo van Loon
Managing Director
leo@ecbnetwork.eu
Callum Lee
Deputy Director
callum@ecbnetwork.eu
Executive Board
Board and Associate Members
Forum Attendees Bernd Fesel (Chair)
european centre for
creative economy (ecce)
Mehjabeen Price
Creative England
Michal Hladky
Kosice 2013
DG Education and Culture
ENoLL
Peopling (Bilbao)
Catalan Institute for the Cultural Companies
Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft
DG Enterprise and Industry
ecce
Peacefulfish / Media Deals
Erasmus University
Europe Analytica
DG Connect
Quartier de la Création / Samoa-Nantes
Little Mountain
Creativity Lab
Ministry of Culture, Spain
Creative Industries KTN
Ravensbourne
Europe Analytica
Permanent Representation of the Slovak
Republic to the European Union
EEC European Economic and Social
Committee
Creative Industries Styria
Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports
European Business Innovative Centre
Network
Ministry of Finance, Malta
Creative England
University of Urbino
House of Slovak Regions
Gobierno de Espana
Culture and Media Agency Europe
Institute for Creative Economy, Kosice
Bulgaria Ministry of Foreign Affairs
City of Rotterdam
Welsh Government
Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte
