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REPORT (2023/2003(INI))

On the implementation of the Creative Europe Programme 2021-2027

A-9-2023-0425

Committee on Culture and Education · Rapporteur: Massimiliano Smeriglio

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Parliament's resolution on the implementation of the Creative Europe programme 2021-2027 reviews the first two years of the programme and sets out recommendations. It welcomes the budget increase and simplification measures, but asks the Commission to further simplify procedures, improve IT tools and reporting, and strengthen the Creative Europe desks. It calls for a substantially larger budget for 2028-2034, no budget cuts in the remaining years, and at least 9% of the overall 2021-2027 budget for the Cross-sectoral strand. It asks for more funding for the Culture strand's sectoral approach, mobility scheme, platforms, networks, music, book sector and European Capital of Culture, and for the Media strand's co-development, distribution, sales, festivals and video games actions. It urges the Commission to promote ethical use of artificial intelligence, to report on inclusion and greening, to implement the Seal of Excellence, and to support third-country participation and the external dimension of the programme.

Committee position. The committee proposes a resolution that welcomes the programme's early implementation and budget increase, but calls for further simplification, better IT tools, stronger desks, more funding for the strands and no budget cuts.

Key points

  1. The programme continues to attract strong interest, with rising applications and falling success rates that may cause disillusionment.
  2. Parliament welcomes the response to COVID-19 but asks the Commission and member states to address long-term effects on creators, including upskilling and reskilling.
  3. It regrets that not all member states allocated at least 2% of the Recovery and Resilience Facility to the sectors and calls for targeted investments through other EU programmes.
  4. It urges the Commission and the European Education and Culture Executive Agency to simplify administrative procedures without reducing resources for monitoring and evaluation.
  5. It calls for application costs to be eligible, for stronger desk support, for capacity-building exchanges, and for an accessible reporting system.
  6. It asks the Commission to report on inclusion, equality, diversity and participation in the interim evaluation and to monitor greening priorities.
  7. It calls for stronger communication between the Commission, the Agency and the desks, timely publication of grant recipients and amounts, and a better results-sharing platform.
  8. It suggests a feasibility study on a pan-European guarantee scheme for indemnity costs and urges ethical standards and disclosure for artificial intelligence use in projects.
  9. It calls for increased resources for the external dimension, cooperation with cultural institutes and EUNIC clusters, and support for third-country participation.
  10. It asks for a substantially larger budget for 2028-2034, no cuts in upcoming years, immediate rollout of the Seal of Excellence, and adequate funding for the network scheme.
  11. It calls for enhanced funding for the Culture strand's sectoral approach, mobility scheme, platforms, networks, book sector, music sector and European Capital of Culture.
  12. It asks for more funding for the Media strand's co-development, distribution, sales, festivals and video games actions, and for the Cross-sectoral strand to receive no less than 9% of the overall budget.

Who is affected

  • Cultural and creative sectors, including audiovisual, music, book, heritage and news media, which receive support and face administrative burdens.
  • Small and micro organisations and individual creators, who struggle with complex application and reporting procedures.
  • Creative Europe desks, which need stronger cooperation and information from the Commission and the Agency.
  • Member states, which are asked to strengthen synergies, ensure targeted investments and avoid budget cuts.
  • Third countries, whose participation in the programme should be supported and facilitated.

Figures and deadlines

  • EUR 2.44 billion total budget for 2021-2027, an increase of 68% compared to 2014-2020.
  • 58%, 33% and 9% of the financial envelope for the Media, Culture and Cross-sectoral strands respectively.
  • EUR 5 million targeted call launched in November 2022 to support Ukrainian artists and cultural sectors.
  • EUR 5 million allocated by the Music Moves Europe Initiative in 2021-2022.
  • EUR 1.5 million endowment for the Melina Mercouri Prize.
  • At least 2% of the Recovery and Resilience Facility requested for the sectors.
  • No less than 9% of the overall 2021-2027 budget to be allocated to the Cross-sectoral strand.
  • EUR 21 million budget for Culture Moves Europe for 2022-2025.

Legal basis: Articles 167, 173(3) and 294(7) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.