20/11/2013 - After the vote, Creative Europe has been adopted by the European Parliament on November 19, during the plenary sitting in Strasbourg

Creative Europe has been adopted yesterday (November 19) by the parliamentary plenary sitting. With 650 votes in favour, 32 against and 10 abstentions, the programme has been approved.

The new 2014-2020 framework-programme for the cultural and audio-visual sector will replace the current MEDIA, MEDIA Mundus and Culture programmes. The European Capitals of Culture, the European Heritage Label, the European Heritage Days and the five European prizes (including EU Prix MEDIA) will be part of the programme as well.

Creative Europe, to begin in January 2014, is aimed at supporting at least 2000 European cinemas (provided that the quota of 50% of European screenings is adopted) and the distribution of more than 800 European films. It will also help thousands of cultural and media organisations and professionals, enabling them to blossom and reach greater audiences.

Built on the experience and knowledge acquired through the previous programmes, Creative Europe will tackle the main difficulties of the sector, such as the difficult access to finance, which is supposed to be eased thanks to the new financial facility-part of the Cross-sectoral strand. “In addition to providing considerable levels of grant support, our guarantee facility will boost access to finance for hundreds of small companies”, stated Androulla Vassiliou - Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, during her speech welcoming the parliamentary vote.

The framework-programme now awaits its final adoption, to be made by the Council in the upcoming weeks.  Once this step is taken, the annual work programmes, which will better define the actual functioning mechanisms of Creative Europe, have to be published in order to have the first calls for proposals.

The 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework has also been submitted to a vote yesterday in the morning, ensuring that Creative Europe will indeed receive the €1.46 billion that had been so hardly negotiated over the past months. Representatives from all the political families, from EPP to GUE, have declared themselves satisfied with the programme.