*This piece is excerpted from the April 2025 issue of the Decoder, Culture Action Europe’s monthly members-only publication dedicated to decoding what is happening in European cultural policy as seen from Brussels. Find out more about CAE member benefits.
Last month, we breathed a sigh of relief when we saw a draft structure of the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028–2034, the EU’s long-term budget, which will determine the future shape and delivery of cultural funding. In that draft, Creative Europe was marked as a standalone programme—something Culture Action Europe has long advocated for.
But we warned: it was too early to celebrate. Now, we’re hearing troubling whispers once again. This time, about the Commission, namely the ‘central offices’, wanting to merge Creative Europe with the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme under a broader ‘Values and Democracy’ heading.
Rumour has it that the proposed merged programme may place a stronger emphasis on media, particularly in the context of disinformation. Media would likely take a more prominent role, and the Commission’s DG CNECT, which currently oversees the MEDIA strand of Creative Europe, is allegedly interested in this merger.
At Culture Action Europe, we have a growing intuition that the merged programme could be used as a vehicle to implement the European Democracy Shield (see below). Indeed, culture is crucial for defending democracy and countering disinformation, and this is precisely why it deserves its own budget line as a strong, standalone Creative Europe programme.
On the one hand, Creative Europe clearly has its advocates in high cabinets. Commissioner Micallef reiterated during our meeting on 22 April that the EU needs a standalone culture programme. Emma Rafowicz, Member of the European Parliament and rapporteur for the Creative Europe file, told us she would call for Creative Europe’s budget to be doubled in the next MFF. National culture ministers are also on our side. At the same time, Culture Action Europe is hearing from institutional contacts that more public pressure is needed outside the cultural sector.
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