16 leading private sector associations in the German cultural and creative industries are joining forces as an open alliance. Together they are demanding that the new federal government give them a prominent role. The German creative and cultural industry is one of the three largest economic sectors alongside the automotive industry and mechanical engineering. Its gross value added is 106 billion euros and contributes 3.1 percent to Germany's overall economic output.

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Leading private sector interest groups from the fields of books and fashion, journalism, music, games, TV, radio and film, cultural events, galleries, architecture and design have joined forces as an open alliance to form the "Coalition for the Cultural and Creative Industries in Germany (k3d)". In the future, this coalition aims to be a competent dialogue partner and driving force for the industry's common interests with politicians at federal, state and EU level. Together, the initiators of the coalition want to communicate the relevance of the cultural and creative industries as an economic sector and for society more clearly to the outside world. In doing so, k3d will develop and represent overarching positions, opinions and demands on cultural, media and economic policy issues. In view of the current coalition negotiations, k3d is in favour of a central contact point in the new federal government for all matters relating to the cultural and creative industries.

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With gross value added of 106 billion euros in 2019, the cultural and creative industries contribute 3.1 percent to Germany's overall economic output. This makes it the third largest economic sector after the automotive industry and mechanical engineering. At European level, it generated sales of 643 billion euros and total value added of 253 billion euros in 2019. The core activities of the cultural and creative industries therefore account for 4.4 percent of the EU's gross domestic product. Their economic contribution is therefore far greater than that of the telecommunications, high-tech, pharmaceutical or automotive industries.

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The Fashion Council Germany e. V. has been increasingly committed to increasing the political relevance of fashion as a cultural and economic asset since its founding. In addition to an appointment in July 2018 with leading fashion experts for a dialogue with Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Federal Chancellery, the FCG published a study on the status of German fashion at the beginning of this year in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Economics. At the conference "The New European Bauhaus - Workshop of the Future" initiated by the FCG last July, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, referred to the initiative of the k3d alliance in her opening speech and praised it as a forward-looking "perfect example" of an interdisciplinary approach.

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Further information on the k3d alliance can be found at: https://k3-d.org/