Creative Europe’s new budget is out: A behind-the-scenes look
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
There’s an old adage often heard in the corridors of power that says: “Laws are like sausages. It’s better not to see them made”. In the EU the adage applies as much, if not more so, to decision-making around budgets, and there’s no better example at the moment than the decision-making around the new budget for Creative Europe.
Let’s start with the good news: the next cycle of the Creative Europe programme, which supports the European cultural and creative sectors (including the audiovisual area) has been given the green light.
The EU budgeting process kicked off back in May 2018, with the European Commission proposing an increase of €390 million to bring the budget for the new period (2021-2027) up to €1.85 billion.
The European Parliament was on board with an increase, and in fact felt that the Commission was being too conservative. The body came back with amendments to the proposal amounting to a total budget of €2.8 billion. This was a bold increase and an indication of the Parliament’s desire to see the programme make a deeper impact on the European arts landscape.
“The European Parliament was on board with an increase, and in fact felt that the Commission was being too conservative.”
The discussion then shifted into the hands of the European Council, where it sadly became clear that the cultural and creative sector (CCS) should not have had high hopes of an extra boost in terms of funding. In the course of the budgetary negotiations around the upcoming cycle of the entire EU budget (in the form of the multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2021-2027), the proposed figures began to shift. By December 2019, it was clear the Council wouldn’t be doing Creative Europe any favours.
Despite the programme taking up a meagre 0.14% of the overall EU budget, the Council saw fit to suggest a reduction in “Investing in People, Social Cohesion and Values“, the area that Creative Europe falls under, by €17.918 million.
The last round of negotiations on the EU’s long-term budget for 2021-2027 ended in a stalemate at the end of February. This was somewhat expected in light of Brexit and the large political and financial gap it left in its wake, not to mention the threat of a global pandemic looming large. With all this in mind, it seems we have some time ahead of us before we hear definitive news about the extent of future support for the European cultural and creative sector.
Arne van Vliet is the Creative Director of TrueMotion. He’s passionate about the creative arts and specialises in finding funding for innovative creative projects that are reshaping the arts landscape in Europe.