YouTube surveyed 20,000 European creators, many of whom say they lack government support, training, funding, and industry representation.
Over the summer, Public First conducted a survey commissioned by YouTube, gathering insights from over 20,000 creators across all 27 European Union member states. The findings reveal that many creators receive minimal support in terms of industry representation, government recognition, funding, training, and workspace access. Now, YouTube is using this data to argue against certain EU rules that would impede priority placement for content creators.
The anonymous survey took place between June 1 and July 8, consisting of 20,617 completed responses and 20 one-on-one interviews. YouTube published the findings as a set of policy recommendations across the EU aiming to “unleash Europe’s potential.”
The report cites Oxford Economics research attributing more than €8.4 billion to the EU’s GDP in 2025 specifically to YouTube’s creator economy, supporting more than 220,000 full-time-equivalent jobs. The survey found that 60% of respondents said that creators receive little to no support with training and skills, either for themselves or their employees, while 65% said that creators receive no access to funds or grants from government agencies. 65% of professional creators similarly expressed a lack of access to recording studios and other workspaces.
Meanwhile, 64% of respondents expressed that greater acknowledgement of creators’ economic contributions by policymakers and government agencies would help them feel more integrated into the creative industry. 64% also stated that more recognition from the creative industry would help them thrive, while 60% said that more representation of creators at creative industry awards would help them feel welcomed in creative spaces.
YouTube proposes five areas in which EU policymakers can take action across government recognition, industry representation, training and skills, support with content creation, and open discovery. These recommendations include dedicated sub-classification for content creators within Eurostat, a European Year of Creators event, an Erasmus+ Creator Exchange pilot, EU-funded creator apprenticeships, opening access to the Creative Europe MEDIA program for digital productions, and InvestEU guarantees for lenders serving creator businesses with irregular income.
The report also argues against EU “prominence” rules currently under discussion that could require platforms to prioritize certain designated media organizations. To that end, 83% of respondents said YouTube’s recommendations and discovery algorithms are important to their channel’s growth and revenue, while 71% with over 100,000 subscribers or followers said reduced visibility from changes to current recommendation systems would affect their income.
