The European Commission has approved an increased budget for 2022 to support the cultural and creative sectors. With a budget of around € 385 million, almost € 100 million more than in 2021, the Creative Europe program is strengthening its support for the creative and cultural partners, taking due account of the challenges posed by its crisis. COVID-19 and growing global competition.
The culture part of the program will include new invitations and initiatives in the fields of music, cultural heritage, performing arts and literature. In addition, it will launch a mobility program, which will offer opportunities for artists, creators or cultural professionals to travel abroad for professional development or international collaborations and to seek new audiences, co-productions or co-productions or to present their work.
The MEDIA arm focuses on the audiovisual sector and introduces many innovations in 2022. It will fund support for the development of innovative video games and virtual reality experiences. A new action, called "360 degree MEDIA", will be addressed to industry-leading forums working with companies across the audiovisual chain. To further stimulate innovation, the market access portal will be launched with the support of MEDIA ("MEDIA market gateway") for the most promising start-ups. Collaboration between film festivals will be enhanced through networks.
Finally, the cross-sectoral arm will increase funding for the Creative Innovation Workshop for joint innovation projects involving many creative sectors and will also contribute to the new European Bauhaus. It will also expand support for the media with additional measures to promote media freedom.
The Creative Europe program will also address key issues affecting the cultural and creative sectors. MEDIA project funding will be required to implement eco-orientation and diversity strategies, as well as gender balance. The Creative Europe program will therefore make a significant contribution to the Commission's policy priorities for sustainability and inclusiveness. The program will include initiatives that address additional EU priorities, such as contributing to the EU strategy to combat anti-Semitism and preserve Jewish life - as well as the European Year of Youth.
The cultural and creative sectors are also encouraged to use CulturEU, the recently launched online guide to all Union funding opportunities available to them. The interactive website brings together a total of 75 funding opportunities from 21 different EU programs, from Creative Europe and Horizon Europe to the Structural Funds and InvestEU.
The cultural and creative sectors have always been a rich aspect of European life, contributing to Europe's social cohesion and diversity, as well as to its economy - accounting for 4,2% of the EU's total GDP and 3,7% of its workforce.
The total budget available for the "Creative Europe" program from 2021 to 2027 amounts to approximately 2,4 billion euros, an amount that represents an increase of 63% compared to the period 2014-2020. The increased budget reflects the European Union's commitment, on the one hand, to help the sector recover and, on the other, to strengthen resilience in the coming years.
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