200+ cultural organisations oppose proposed cuts to Creative Europe
More than 200 cultural organisations across Europe are calling on EU Member States to reverse the proposed cuts to Creative Europe’s annual budget for 2027. An open letter was initiated and coordinated by Culture Action Europe.
The Council suggests reducing the funding Creative Europe can commit to projects in 2027 by €31.6 million. The proposed cuts would affect every strand: €7.8 million from Culture, €23.2 million from MEDIA and €0.6 million from the Cross-sectoral strand.
This is the fourth budget year in the current seven-year cycle in which the Council has proposed cuts to Creative Europe. ‘Year after year, we must defend funding for cooperation that the EU says it wants to strengthen,’ the letter states.
The proposed cuts are at odds with the EU’s own commitments. In June 2026, the Presidents of the Council, Parliament and Commission signed the Joint Declaration ‘Europe for Culture – Culture for Europe’, committing to ensuring the independence of cultural institutions, artistic freedom, and sustainability of the cultural and creative sectors. The 2027 budget is an immediate opportunity to put those commitments into practice.
200 organisations behind the open letter know the value of Creative Europe because they see what happens when artists work beyond borders. A story finds an audience in another country; people who might never have met begin creating together. These encounters matter all the more when propaganda fuels division and hybrid threats target cultural expression in Europe. Cultural organisations and artists have spent years building truly unique cross-border cultural cooperation. Our governments should have the confidence to strengthen it.
The letter urges Member States to restore the Commission’s proposed €417.35 million budget for Creative Europe. It also supports the proposal of the European Parliament’s Culture and Education Committee to add €15 million above the Commission’s draft budget.
2027 is the final year of the current Creative Europe programme, so the funding decisions taken now matter beyond a single annual budget. Negotiations on Creative Europe’s proposed successor, AgoraEU, will shape EU support from 2028 onwards. Protecting Creative Europe now goes hand in hand with securing a strong AgoraEU programme and a visible, well-funded place for culture within it, as Culture Action Europe and cultural organisations across Europe have jointly called for.
The letter has been shared with the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU and Members of the European Parliament. The proposed cuts are still open to negotiation — the EU institutions have until 16 November to reach an agreement. That’s why the coming weeks are a good opportunity to reverse the cuts.
Culture Action Europe remains committed to securing stronger EU support for culture as a sector in its own right. This is part of our wider Ask, Pay, Trust campaign, which calls on EU leaders to listen to artists, pay fairly for their work and trust their creative process.
Photo Copyright: Studio Madonna