Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) voiced their concerns about a possible reduction in funding for culture and youth at the first structured dialogue with the European Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Culture, Youth and Sport, Glenn Micallef, on Wednesday 19 February.
These concerns are fuelled in particular by the current discussions on the next multiannual financial framework and speculation that certain programmes, including Creative Europe, could be absorbed into a larger fund, risking a loss of visibility and specificity.
“The creative industries are afraid that much less funding will be made available to them”, warned Zoltán Tarr (EPP, Hungarian).
Emilie Rafowicz (S&D, French) also denounced the risk to the Creative Europe programme, which could be diluted into a larger fund and thus lose its specificity.
In the face of these concerns, Glenn Micallef assured that “the budget must have an impact, be based on results and be well targeted” and that efforts will be made to “optimise the effectiveness of flagship programmes such as Erasmus+, the Solidarity Corps and Creative Europe”, notably through the future “cultural compass” which will help to “guide objectives in relation to the funding of culture”.
He also assured the MEPs of his commitment to the Erasmus+ programme, which he praised for its impact on the mobility and training of young Europeans.
According to Nikos Pappas (The Left, Greek), simplifying administrative procedures could enable more young people and organisations to benefit from the programme.
Glenn Micallef recalled the public consultation currently underway, aimed at improving the accessibility of these initiatives.
Combating cyberbullying. The Commissioner also spoke about the action plan against cyberbullying.
He reiterated that “hate has no place in our society, whether in the physical world or online”, before calling for a common approach at European level to combat this issue more effectively.
Diana Riba i Giner (Greens/EFA, Spanish) also raised the issue of artistic freedom, citing growing censorship in some Member States and the need to protect cultural autonomy in Europe: “protecting cultural autonomy means protecting democracy”, she said.
The European Commissioner acknowledged “worrying developments” and gave assurances that the issue would be incorporated into the “cultural compass”, the future strategic framework for European cultural policy.
A ‘compass’ for the future of culture. “Work has already begun on this ‘cultural compass’ and, at the end of March, we will be organising a consultation with key stakeholders”, he said.
He went on to say that while “culture is an essential strategic element for the future of Europe, for which this ‘compass’ should provide clear guidelines and a long-term vision, this does require (...) a commitment on the part of the Member States and the European Parliament”.
“The support of your committee will be essential”, said Commissioner Micallef. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)