Culture Action Europe has joined a coalition of over 70 cultural organisations, networks, and institutions from across Europe in signing an open letter addressed to EU policymakers calling for a stronger budget for the Culture strand in AgoraEU as part of the next long-term EU budget.
The NamePlaceFund campaign coordinators have sent an open letter to the Irish Presidency of the Council calling for a vision of research, innovation and competitiveness in the next MFF that fully embeds the arts and the CCSI to address the challenges of the future.
Over the past months, we’ve talked a lot about the European Commission’s work on the Culture Compass and the European Parliament’s efforts to influence the current funding proposals. With negotiations on the next long-term EU budget gathering pace, both institutions are busy trying to shape what comes next for culture. But there is a third player in the room that we cannot afford to overlook: the Council of the EU and its upcoming Work Plan for Culture.
EU institutions have signed the Joint Declaration on culture, agreeing a long-term strategic vision for culture at the heart of Europe. We warmly welcome the Joint Declaration and now call for its commitments to be supported with the financial backing necessary in the next long-term EU budget to realise its goals.
The Council has unveiled its proposed budget allocations for the 2028-2034 MFF and it’s bad news for culture, including a 33% reduction in budget for AgoraEU compared to the Parliament’s position. It is vital that the European Parliament’s budgetary proposal of €10.72 billion is treated as the bare minimum in negotiations in order to sustain the cultural and creative sectors.
Culture Action Europe calls for an AgoraEU that covers all cultural and creative sectors fairly, protects the cross-sectoral nature of European cultural cooperation, and provides more ambitious funding for culture as a whole. Where sectors have specific needs, they must be addressed consistently, not selectively, across various sectors.
As the trialogue approaches, the European Parliament is consolidating its positions on key funding programmes shaping the next MFF. Among them, AgoraEU stands out as a central framework for supporting culture and socially impactful projects, raising questions about what’s new and why it matters.
The Interim Report of the European Parliament on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) has been adopted with an increased budget proposed for the AgoraEU programme. Read more and learn our reaction in this piece.