Creative Europe programme 2014-2020

The European Parliament adopted by 650 votes for, 32 against and 10 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and Council on establishing the programme, "Creative Europe".

The Parliament adopted its position at first reading following the ordinary legislative procedure. The amendments adopted at plenary are the result of a compromise negotiated between the European Parliament and the Council.

General objectives of the programme: the programme aims:

• to safeguard, develop and promote European cultural and linguistic diversity, and to promote Europe's cultural heritage;
• to strengthen the competitiveness of the European cultural and creative sectors, particularly that of the audiovisual sector.
• Specific objectives: the specific objectives shall be:
• tosupport the capacity of the European cultural and creative sectors to operate transnationally and internationally;
• to promote and enhance the transnational circulation of European cultural and creative works and the mobility of cultural and creative operators, in particular artists (especially female and young ones), as well as to reach wider and under-represented audiences;
• to strengthen the financial capacity of SMEs, micro, small and medium organisations in the cultural and creative sectors, so as to assure geographic coverage as well as a balanced sectoral representation;
• to favour policy development, innovation, creativity, audience development as well as new business models, managed by the support of transnational policy cooperation.

European added value: the European added value aspect of the programme was underlined so that the following elements would be taken into consideration:

• the transnational character of the actions;
• the development and promotion of transnational cooperation between cultural and creative actors, including artists, audiovisual professionals, cultural and creative organisations and audiovisual sector operators;
• the economies of scale and critical mass which Union support fosters;
• ensuring that proper account is taken of the conditions obtaining in the European cultural and creative sectors, in particular the situation in low-production-capacity Member States and/or EU regions with a restricted geographical and/or linguistic area.

Structure of the programme: the programme shall consist of three main sections:

a. a MEDIA programme;

b. a Culture programme;

c. a Cross-sectoral strand.

Logos and visibility: the Commission must assure the visibility of the programme by the use of specific logos for each sub-programme such as the MEDIA logo presented in the programme annex.

Access to the programme: the programme shall foster cultural diversity at international level in line with the 2005 UNESCO Convention and be open to the participation of:

• the Member States;
• acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidate countries, in accordance with the general conditions outlined in the text;
• European Free Trade Association countries which are members of the European Economic Area (EEA);
• the Swiss Confederation;
• countries of the European Neighbourhood area.

A number of these countries, however, would be excluded from the MEDIA Guarantee Facility foreseen by the programme.

Cooperations are also foreseen with UNESCO, the Council of Europe, the OECD andWIPO.

- MEDIA sub-programme: overall, MEDIA shall reinforce:

• the development of a comprehensive range of training measures promoting the acquisition and improvement of new skills and competences by audiovisual professionals, knowledge-sharing and networking initiatives, including the integration of digital technologies;
• the development of European audiovisual projects, notably films and television programmes, such as fiction, children's and animated films, documentaries and short films, as well as interactive works, notably video games;
• measures to support the activities of European audiovisual production companies;
• measures to help European co-producers and international partners to provide indirect support to audiovisual works;
• the establisment of systems of support for the distribution of non-national European films through cinema distribution platforms and all other platforms, notably the subtitling, subtitling, dubbing and audio-description of audiovisual works;
• measures to facilitate circulation of European films worldwide;
• initiatives to promote eclectic European audiovisual works, including short films, such as festivals and other promotional events;
• activities to promote film literacy, including for younger audiences.

- Culture sub-programme: generally, the accent was placed on transnational measures favouring:

• the training of cultural and creative actors including adaptation to digital technologies and innovative strategies;
• the strengthening of the European organisations of the cultural and creative sectors.

Being notably support for festivals and tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

- a Cross-sectoral strand and Guarantee Facility: the Guarantee Facility shall provide improved access to financing for SMEs and organisations active in the cultural and creative sectors.

This facility shall operate as a self-standing instrument and shall be set up and managed in accordance with the titles of the Financial Regulation, in line with the principles established by the annex of the future regulation.

The Commission shall provide a set of clear and precise parameters to the European Investment Fund (EIF). The annual allocation to the EIF and the eligibility and selection criteria for financial intermediaries shall be included in the annual work programme.

Other provisions are included under the cross-sectoral strand including the financial support of the European Audiovisual Observatory as well as the "Creative Europe" offices.

This strand also includes carrying out a feasibility study, to be carried out by 30 June 2014, exploring the possibility of collecting and analysing data in the cultural and creative sectors, other than the audiovisual sector.

Performance indicators: both quantitative and qualitative indicators specific to each programme would be applied (particularly in terms of participation in the programme).

Financial envelope: in accordance with the overall agreement on the financial framework, the financial envelope for the implementation of the Framework Programme has been set at EUR 1.463 billion.

It shall be distributed as follows:

• at least 56% for the MEDIA sub-programme;
• at least 31% for the Culture sub-programme;
• 13% maximum for the cross-sectoral strand, including at least 4% for transnational cooperation measures and the financing of the "Creative Europe" offices.

Reporting and evaluation: the Commission shall ensure that the Framework Programme is evaluated regularly, externally and independently: a mid-term evaluation report should be presented by 31 December 2017 as well as a final evaluation of the Framework Programme no later than 30 June 2022. In the context the Guarantee Facility should be particularly evaluated.

Delegated acts: it is intended to give the Commission power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the TFEU in respect of the adaptation of the quantitative and qualitative indicators for the evaluation of the Framework Programme.