Culture is being erased from EU research and innovation funding. How do we save it?
The next Horizon Europe programme (2028–2034) is being shaped right now, and culture is disappearing from its architecture.
The European Commission’s proposal has no dedicated component for culture or artistic research. The European Parliament’s draft report on Horizon doesn’t fix the proposal either: culture gets a nod as a ‘horizontal principle,’ but receives no dedicated home similar to the current Cluster 2. That means less ring-fenced budget, less visibility, and fewer dedicated calls. The draft also proposes to dissolve Horizon’s Society pillar entirely, folding it into a Competitiveness pillar as a fifth policy window.
For this part of the Horizon programme, horizontal means everywhere in theory, nowhere in practice.
That’s why Culture Action Europe, as part of the Artistic Research Alliance which is coordinated by ELIA , and alongside Michael Culture Association, submitted proposals for amendments to the Parliament’s draft report with two core demands:
- Rename ‘Global Societal Challenges’ policy window to ‘Culture and Global Societal Challenges’ and explicitly include culture in its scope.
- Double the budget for culture-related research: from €2.28 billion in the current 2021–2027 Horizon to €5 billion in 2028–2034.
Without a dedicated component, we lose everything Cluster 2 built in the current programme: visibility, money, and the recognition of arts, cultural and creative sectors and industries as a strategic priority for Europe’s research and innovation.
We call on shadow rapporteurs Lina Galvez, Ivars Ijabs, Ville Niinistö, and Nikos Pappas to table relevant amendments, and on rapporteur Christian Ehler to carve out the space for culture in Horizon Europe that it deserves.
📢 Take Action!
A coalition of cultural networks started the ‘Name, Place, Fund’ campaign to secure the presence of culture for research, innovation and competitiveness in the 2028-2034 budget. The campaign focuses specifically on the Horizon Europe and European Competitiveness Fund (ECF). It is coordinated by the Artistic Research Alliance (composed of Culture Action Europe, ELIA, AEC – European Association of Conservatoires, CILECT, European Association for Architectural Education, EQ-Arts, GEECT, MusiQuE, Society for Artistic Research) and Michael Culture Association, which together represent around 1,200 institutions involved in artistic-cultural research and cultural heritage in Europe.
The goal of the campaign is to influence the European Commission, European Parliament, and the Council of the EU during interinstitutional negotiations and to ask for three things:
NAME: Put culture in the title of a Horizon Europe window: ‘Culture and Global Societal Challenges,’ and put culture in the title of a Competitiveness Fund policy window.
PLACE: Give culture a dedicated structural component in both programmes. When we say ‘dedicated component,’ we mean a dedicated budget line, work programmes, and calls. A horizontal principle is not enough for culture, nor is a line inside someone else’s policy window. Culture deserves a home of its own.
FUND: We call for €5 billion to be allocated towards culture and artistic research in Horizon Europe, and €3 billion to be allocated towards culture and creative industries in the European Competitiveness Fund.
Our Actions So Far
We have submitted amendments to the EU institutions, including to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, to provide concrete proposals through which culture can be meaningfully supported in Horizon and the ECF.
The Name, Place, Fund social media campaign was also launched on Wednesday 6 May 2026, tagging relevant influential decision-makers and calling for change. We now wish to bring visibility to our campaign, its goals, and to share the experiences of the cultural and creative sectors with Horizon Europe, artistic research, etc. For that, we need your active involvement.
What can you do?
Three main things:
- Post online
- Your story about Horizon Europe;
- General endorsement post.
- Email the decision-makers.
- Spread the word further and invite your members/partners to join the campaign.
We have compiled information for each of these points so you can identify how and/or your organisation wish to contribute and what works best for you.
(If you have any issues accessing the links within the info pack, reach out to maya@cultureactioneurope.org)
