New petition from Culture Action Europe

The petition calls for a central place for culture in the EU long-term recovery budget and is supported by the IMZ and other cultural organisations.

Despite its historic relevance, the revised Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) proposal presented by the European Commission on 27 May is unambitious for culture. Member States now have the opportunity to show that a forward-looking strategy for the Europe of tomorrow does not leave culture and its ecosystem behind.

The budget should show the necessary centrality for culture that can make a real difference to the sector and to Europe. Culture + creative operators are resourceful, resilient and inventive even in hard times. With increased funding, however, they would be able to achieve exponentially more. Furthermore, the cultural and creative sectors employ 8,4 million workers in the EU, nearly half of which are young people.

Despite this, Next Generation EU does not channel any additional money specifically to Creative Europe, disregarding the crucial role that culture has to play in building more resilient, sustainable, inclusive and fairer societies – all core objectives of the new recovery package.

To rebuild a sustainable post-pandemic Europe, supporting and investing in culture is not an option but a necessity. This is why the open letter, ahead of the European Council meeting on 17-18 July, calls on the Member States to double the budget of Creative Europe as the core programme for reinforcing European cultural cooperation, and also to make sure that the additional funds stemming from the Next Generation EU initiative reach cultural operators (such as REACT-EU).

Click below to read the full petition!