MEPs support the establishment of the Creative Europe programme for the period 2021-2027 to support the European cultural and creative sectors and audiovisual works. Meeting in the Committee on Culture and Education on Wednesday 20 February, they adopted their negotiating position on the whole Regulation, with the exception of the figures.
The proposal for a new Creative Europe programme is part of the ‘Investing in People’ chapter of the European Union's long-term budget proposal. Its main objective is to promote European culture, which contributes to the development of a European identity.
The European Parliament's negotiating position, prepared by Silvia Costa (S&D, Italy), outlines the main points of the Commission's proposal, namely a programme consisting of 3 components: (1) media (audiovisual sector); (2) culture (cultural and creative sectors, except audiovisual); (3) cross-sectoral.
The main changes
The changes are therefore relatively marginal. As regards the scope of the text, MEPs want to include in the cultural and creative sector “festivals and creativity, including fashion design”. They add, among the specific objectives of the programme, that of promoting the “mobility of artists and operators in the cultural and creative sectors, as well as the circulation of their work”. They also provide more details on the evaluation committee composed of external experts; they specify that the experts must have professional experience related to the field being evaluated and may seek the advice of experts from the country of application.
MEPs also describe the situations in which the European Film Academy and the EU Youth Orchestra can receive grants without participating in a call for proposals. For the Academy, they refer to cooperation with the European Parliament for the Lux Prize. For the Orchestra, they mention its “activities offering mobility and the possibility of performing in festivals and tours, in the European Union and at international level, and contributing to the development of the cross-border circulation of European culture and the internationalisation of young musicians’ careers”. They also emphasize that the Youth Orchestra must continuously diversify its income and thus reduce its dependence on EU funds. It should also be noted that this amendment stipulates that projects that have received a label of excellence may receive funds directly from other programmes and from the Structural Funds.
In respect of follow-up, they call on the European Commission to adopt a delegated act on indicators “before 31 December 2022”. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)