As reported recently, IFACCA commissioned Dr Andreas Wiesand and Danielle Cliche of the Bonn-based research institute, ERICarts, to prepare a discussion paper, Arts and Artists in Europe: New Challenges. This paper. together with selected chapters from the Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe, provided background for the meeting of European members of IFACCA in Athens, Greece, on 2 and 3 November 2007.