Yesterday, the Commission initiated new actions to support the cultural and creative sectors, after the adoption of the work programme for the first year of the Creative Europe 2021-2027 programme. In 2021, Creative Europe will allocate an unprecedented budget of around €300 million to help professionals and artists from all cultural sectors to collaborate, in order to find more opportunities and to reach new audiences. This adoption lays the basis for the first calls for proposals under the new programme, which will be open to all organisations active in the relevant cultural and creative sectors. The total programme budget of €2.4 billion over 7 years has increased by 63% compared to the previous one.

Creative Europe also plans to increase the competitiveness of cultural sectors, while also assisting their efforts to become greener, more digital and more inclusive. Particular attention is given to strengthening the resilience and recovery of the cultural and creative sectors in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Creative Europe programme emphasises transnational creation, global circulation and promotion of European works, innovation across sectors, and ease of funding access through higher EU co-financing rates. All funded actions and projects should respect gender equality as well as the EU's environmental commitments in the design and implementation of their activities.

Within Creative Europe, the MEDIA sub-programme supports the development and distribution of films and audiovisual works with international appeal, in Europe and beyond. It contributes to the nurturing of talents and manages targeted actions to enhance media literacy, pluralism and freedom. The programme will continue to promote European cultural and linguistic diversity.

Actions covered by Creative Europe include:

• A scheme to support the translation of literary works and the development of publishing partnerships;
• EU Prizes in the fields of literature, music, architecture and cultural heritage, as well as the European Capitals of Culture and European Heritage Label initiatives;
• Strengthening the accessibility and visibility of European audiovisual works across platforms and borders;
• Creative Innovation Lab - encouraging innovative approaches to content creation, distribution, and promotion across different sectors;
• Promotion of media literacy, pluralism and freedom, as European values.

Image © European Commission, 2021