The Council adopted its position at first reading with a view to the adoption of a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Creative Europe programme (2021-2027) and repealing regulation (EU) No 1295/2013.
The proposed regulation establishes the Creative Europe programme for the duration of the multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2021-2027.
Programme’s objectives
The general objectives of the programme are to safeguard, develop and promote European cultural and linguistic diversity and heritage and increase the competitiveness and the economic potential of the cultural and creative sectors, in particular the audiovisual sector.
The programme has the following specific objectives:
- to enhance artistic and cultural cooperation at the European level in order to support the creation of European works and strengthen the economic, social and external dimension of and innovation and mobility in Europe’s cultural and creative sectors;
- to promote competitiveness, scalability, cooperation, innovation and sustainability, including through mobility, in the European audiovisual sector, policy cooperation and innovative actions and pluralistic media
environment, and media literacy, thereby fostering freedom of artistic expression, intercultural dialogue and social inclusion.
The programme consists of three distinct strands:
1) a culture strand, covering the cultural and creative sectors, with the exception of the audiovisual sector;
2) a MEDIA strand, dedicated to the audiovisual sector; and
3) a cross-sectoral strand to support transversal actions across all cultural and creative sectors.
Budget
The financial envelope for the implementation of the programme for the period from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2027 is set at EUR 1 842 000 000 in current prices, increased by an additional allocation of EUR 600 000 000 at 2018 prices (resulting from the specific adjustment per programme provided for in Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 establishing the MFF 2021-2027).
The indicative breakdown between the different strands for both the financial envelope and the additional allocation is as follows: i) at least 33% for the objective corresponding to the culture strand, ii) at least 58% for the objective corresponding to the MEDIA strand, and iii) up to 9% for the objective corresponding to the cross-sectoral strand.
Actions supported
The programme should support actions and activities with European added value, which, inter alia:
- the transnational character of the actions and activities;
- the economies of scale and growth and jobs which Union support fosters, creating a leverage effect for additional funds;
- the application of the concept of a ‘level playing field’ exclusively to the MEDIA strand;
- take into account the differences across countries regarding the production and distribution of audiovisual content and access to audiovisual content and trends relating to the consumption of audiovisual content, and, in particular, their linguistic and geographical specificities;
- support those organisations and the best talent, wherever located, to operate across borders and internationally.
The programme should also support specific incentive measures that: (i) ensure that people with disabilities, people belonging to minorities or socially marginalised groups have access to the cultural and creative sectors, (ii) promote gender equality, in particular as a driver of creativity.
The Council position sets out a closed list of actions with a very detailed content, which is set out in Annex I. New actions may only be introduced via a proposal to amend the Regulation to be submitted by the Commission. This guarantees the involvement of both co-legislators in politically relevant decisions during the duration of the programme.
Work programmes
Work programmes should be adopted by means of an implementing act, with the Programme Committee maintained as a mechanism of control by Member States. The use of delegated acts is foreseen for developing the provisions for a monitoring and evaluation framework, including amendments to Annex II in order to review or supplement the indicators.