As with the other sectoral programmes, negotiators from the European Parliament, the EU Council and the European Commission reached an interim agreement on the Creative Europe programme on Tuesday 15 December. The agreement has yet to be formally validated, with a first agreement expected in the EU Council's Committee of Permanent Representatives later this week.
The programme has a specific budget of €2.4 billion, i.e. €1.8 billion in current prices and an additional €0.6 billion at 2018 prices. It aims to promote cultural and linguistic diversity, heritage and competitiveness and to enable cultural and creative organisations and professionals to co-create and cooperate across borders and reach a wider audience.
The compromise for the first time provides for support to the information media sector for the first time in the framework of various actions under the cross-sectoral strand aimed at promoting media education, pluralism and media freedom.
“This programme has been crucial in promoting Europe’s cultural diversity and fostering the competitiveness of Europe’s cultural and creative sectors. Its modernisation aims to better equip these sectors to face current challenges, including those generated by the pandemic”, commented Commissioner for Culture Mariya Gabriel. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)