On Wednesday 24 September, the European Commission adopted its annual work programme for Creative Europe 2026. The budget is €380 million for the coming year, out of a total of €2.47 billion for the period 2021-2027.
Created in 2014, the Creative Europe programme supports EU actions dedicated to the cultural and creative sectors. The aim is to preserve Europe’s cultural and linguistic diversity and strengthen the competitiveness of its cultural and audiovisual industries.
In 2026, the ‘Culture’ strand will receive €60 million dedicated to European cooperation projects, open only to small and medium-scale projects. The call for proposals dedicated to the circulation of literary works will be published in the autumn and will focus on funding the translation, distribution, promotion and publication of works.
And three new actions - the third edition of Perform Europe for 2026-2027, implementation of the European heritage label until 2029 and an initiative inspired by the European Spaces of culture model - will be carried out.
The Culture Moves Europe mobility programme will be renewed, as will support for European prizes in the fields of architecture, music, heritage and literature.
The MEDIA strand will be adapted to take account of developments in the audiovisual market. The programme plans to improve aid for content development, with support for groups of projects led by production companies, as well as for the creation of video games and immersive reality content.
Support for film distribution and sales companies will continue as will support for initiatives to reach new audiences. Specific funding will be earmarked for European cinema networks, festivals, video-on-demand platforms and subtitling.
In addition, the cross-sectoral strand will maintain its priorities with regard to innovation and media pluralism. The Creative Innovation Lab, partnerships for journalism, media literacy initiatives, monitoring of media pluralism and cooperation with the European Audiovisual Observatory will be continued.
The aim is not only to help the cultural and creative sectors adapt to the digital and green transitions, but also to give them a key role in protecting European democracy.
See the work programme: https://aeur.eu/f/iom (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)