With the start of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, AEPO-ARTIS sent an open letter emphasizing the importance of protecting performers’ rights. Read the full letter below:
Brussels, 1 July 2026
Dear Taoiseach, Dear Tánaiste,
As Ireland assumes the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Europe finds itself confronting major economic, democratic and geopolitical challenges. Despite these, or perhaps because of these, it is important not to lose sight of one of Europe’s greatest assets: its culture.
For that reason, we are reassured to see that the Irish Presidency programme identifies some of the main areas of concern for performers; the people through whom culture reaches the public.
The review of the CDSM Directive
For performers, the objective of the Directive was clear: to ensure performers receive fair remuneration and to strengthen their contractual position via rights to transparency, contract adjustment, ADR and rights revocation.
Seven years later, research shows that this objective has been achieved neither for musicians nor for actors.
The rights designed to improve contracts are rarely used. Those responsible for drafting the Directive clearly did not appreciate the commercial reality that challenging contractual arrangements carries professional risks that many performers simply cannot afford to take. Rights that cannot realistically be exercised in practice will never achieve the goal that European legislators intended.
Most fundamentally, it is clear from the research referred to that there has been no improvement in performers’ remuneration. Responsibility for this lies largely with Member States, with too many failing to implement the provisions on fair remuneration in a meaningful way. In turn, the responsibility now falls upon the Commission to take firm steps to require these Member States to comply with their obligations under EU law.
We hope that the review process translates into actual progress. Where it identifies shortcomings, concrete proposals for change should be made. These include legislative reform and with the Commission currently considering a legislative proposal as part of its “Targeted initiative for a better copyright environment for European creativity and innovation” now is an appropriate time to do so.
We hope the Irish presidency will encourage the Commission to ensure that its review is one of substance that can deliver real results.
Performers in the age of Artificial Intelligence
While the Presidency programme does not specifically address the impact of AI on performers, this is a subject closely related to the ongoing review of the CDSM Directive.
The review will address the text and data mining exception in Article 4 of that Directive. Its rights reservation procedure may be beneficial for producers and some other rightholders, however, for performers it is of only theoretical relevance. A reservation mechanism cannot realistically function where the person expected to exercise it controls neither the protected asset nor the location at which the reservation must be expressed.
With the Irish Presidency programme foreseeing an AI Summit during its term, we urge the Presidency to be cognisant of the fact that the licensing deals being concluded by major record labels and companies such as Suno, Udio and most recently Spotify, are not the panacea some proclaim them to be. It should not be assumed that these labels have the right to conclude these deals; for the simple reason that in many cases they do not.
Performers stand ready to support licensing practices, but history has shown that licensing alone does not result in fair remuneration for performers. With performers still remaining in the weaker bargaining position, additional remuneration rights (as advocated for by some academics) are essential.
We would urge the Presidency to ensure that performers have a seat at the table at any AI summit. While questions of consent, transparency and remuneration impact all in the audio and audiovisual sectors, it is important that the specificities of performers are not overlooked in the usual “big tech versus music/film industry” discussions.
The Unfinished Business of the Beijing Treaty
The Presidency programme raises the issue of the European Union’s engagement with WIPO. For performers, one issue in particular deserves particular attention.
During Ireland’s previous Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2013, the European Union signed the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances, granting audiovisual performers a level of protection more comparable to that already enjoyed by performers in the music sector.
More than a decade later, however, the European Union has still not ratified the Treaty.
This is difficult to justify. The European Union has repeatedly expressed its commitment to strengthening performers’ rights, yet audiovisual performers across Europe continue to wait for ratification.
As Ireland assumes the Presidency once again, there would be a certain symmetry in returning to an issue that featured prominently during its previous term. We hope the Irish Presidency will encourage renewed attention to the Beijing Treaty and support efforts to finally bring this long-standing process to a conclusion.
Future initiatives
We also note the Presidency’s intention to advance work on the AgoraEU Regulation, the next EU Work Plan for Culture and the forthcoming Culture Compass for Europe. As these discussions progress, the sustainability of performers’ careers should remain an important consideration in any future cultural strategy.
Closing remarks
The coming six months provide an opportunity to address three of the most important issues affecting performers across Europe: the effectiveness of the CDSM Directive, the place of performers within the emerging AI economy and the unfinished business of the Beijing Treaty. Each concerns a simple principle: performers should be able to effectively exercise their rights in practice, participate fairly in the value generated from their work and have a meaningful voice in decisions that affect their future.
AEPO-ARTIS and its 41 member organisations representing over 650.000 performers stand ready to contribute constructively to these discussions and wishes Ireland every success in its Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Yours sincerely,
Christophe Van Vaerenbergh
President, AEPO-ARTIS (Association of European Performers’ Organisations)
