The new Creative Europe programme (2021-2027) has been launched with the adoption of the first annual work programme.

With its 3 sub-programmes, the Culture strand, the MEDIA strand and the Cross-sectoral strand, Creative Europe aims to

• enhance artistic and cultural cooperation at a European level
• encourage the competitiveness, innovation, and sustainability of the European audiovisual sector
• promote cross-sectoral innovative and collaborative actions, including support for media literacy and a diverse, independent and pluralistic news media environment

The formal adoption of the legal basis of the programme is expected in early June and the first calls for proposals will be announced in the coming weeks.

For the period 2021-2027, the programme’s budget is an estimated €2.44 billion, compared to €1.47 billion for 2014-2020.

With this increased budget, the Creative Europe programme will be more inclusive, more digital and environmentally more sustainable.

Main objectives

The 2 main objectives of Creative Europe are to

• safeguard, develop and promote European cultural and linguistic diversity and heritage
• increase the competitiveness and economic potential of the cultural and creative sectors, in particular the audio-visual sector

Main novelties

The main novelties of the programme are

• stronger emphasis on transnational creation and on innovation
• easier access to funding through higher co-financing rates (greater contribution levels from Creative Europe for projects)
• emphasis on support to EU-level cooperation to enhance the competitiveness of the European audiovisual sector at a global level
• mobility scheme for artists and professionals
• actions targeting sector-specific needs

Learn more

• Read the press release on the programme launch