Proposed €8.6 billion for culture and democracy in the next EU budget

€8.6 billion—that’s the amount the European Commission is proposing for the new AgoraEU programme in the next EU long-term budget 2028-2034. The programme will support culture, media and civil society and will build on the success of Creative Europe and the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme. Of that, €1.8 billion is earmarked for the Creative Europe – Culture strand, €3.2 billion for the Media+ strand, and €3.6 billion for the Democracy, Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values strand.

The Commission has just released its first proposal for the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), which will cover the period 2028-2034. 

The total EU spending planned is €1984.6 billion, which is about 1.26% of the EU’s Gross National Income (GNI). By comparison, the current MFF stands at €1211 billion euros, or 1.13% of GNI. There have been different opinions on this: some voices argued the budget needed to grow to properly fund key priorities like security and climate action. More frugal member states think that the EU should focus on prioritising spending areas without expanding the total budget. 

This is just the Commission’s first proposal: the total amount of EU spending is likely to change as negotiations unfold between the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.

The MFF is primarily funded through contributions from Member States. In addition, the Commission has proposed five new ‘own resources’ to strengthen the EU’s revenue streams: the EU Emissions Trading System, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, a new resource based on non-collected e-waste, an EU-wide excise duty on tobacco, and a Corporate Resource for Europe, which would apply a levy on companies with a net annual turnover of at least €100 million.

As Culture Action Europe predicted in our early analysis last autumn, the MFF is structured around the following key headings:

• Heading 1: National and Regional Partnerships supported by the European Economic, Territorial, Social, Rural and Maritime Sustainable Prosperity and Security Fund. This fund will include merged agricultural and regional (cohesion) funds. A fixed annual amount for the repayment of NextGenerationEU is included in this heading. Budget: €1062.2 billion.
• Heading 2: the European Competitiveness Fund. The heading will contain the Competitiveness Fund per se (€450.5 billion; the Fund will merge several programmes like the European Defence Industry Programme, EU4Health, European Space Programme, LIFE, and others), as well as Horizon Europe (€175 billion), Erasmus+ (€40.8 billion) and AgoraEU (€8.6 billion) as standalone programmes. To clarify: these self-standing programmes are not part of the Competitiveness Fund as such, but share the same overall budget envelope (heading). Budget: €589.6 billion.
• Heading 3: external action funding covering the Global Europe fund. Budget: €215.2 billion.
• Heading 4: expenditures for European public administration. Budget: €117.9 billion.

Beyond these four headings, a special reserve worth €100 billion will be available to support Ukraine.

What about culture?

The Commission proposes merging Creative Europe with the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV).

The new programme AgoraEU will have a revised structure with three strands: 1) Creative Europe – Culture strand; 2) MEDIA+ strand; 3) the Democracy, Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values strand (previously CERV). The proposed AgoraEU Regulation is available here. 

As Culture Action Europe reported earlier, the Culture strand preserves the main objectives and funding schemes (transnational cooperation projects, European networks, pan-European platforms, mobility for artists, capacity-building to operate internationally, European Capitals of Culture, the European Heritage Label, cultural prizes, etc.). In addition, the programme now aims to support initiatives that promote intergenerational fairness and inform policy development. There are also commitments to maintain the programme’s visibility and autonomy while simplifying some processes, like using lump sums as the default funding method. No sector-specific schemes are envisioned; instead, the framework remains broad and transversal to ensure access to funding across diverse cultural sectors.

The total funding for AgoraEU is €8.6 billion, which would mean doubling from Creative Europe (currently €2.44 billion) and CERV (currently €1.5 billion).

Here’s a comparison between the current and proposed budgets, broken down by strand:

This is just the Commission’s first proposal, which marks the start of a longer negotiation process between the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union that represents member states’ governments. Many Members of the European Parliament have already voiced criticism for budget cuts for agriculture and regional funding and for centralising regional funding in national plans. 

Based on a proposal by the Commission, the MFF is adopted by unanimity by the 27 EU member states in the Council (through a regulation), after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament.

Here’s a tentative timeline of what happens next: 

• Autumn 2025: The European Parliament and Council provide the initial response to the Commission’s proposal.  Parliament adopts its first reading position (a resolution). The Council can either accept it or propose amendments. If the Council amends the Parliament’s position, the file returns to Parliament for a second reading. At that stage, Parliament can approve, reject, or suggest further changes. These negotiations will take place throughout 2026-2027.

• To watch out for: the Danish presidency will present the negotiating toolbox in December 2025. It’s a draft framework of the Council of the EU that outlines the overall MFF structure, proposed figures for budget headings, and issues where compromises need to be found. This document serves as a basis for negotiations and can be updated several times to reflect progress and sticking points among member states.
• Negotiations are expected to conclude by the end of 2027. 

So, now that the European Commission has made its proposal, the ball is in the Parliament’s and Council’s court, and this is where the cultural sector’s advocacy is most crucial. We need to ensure that these institutions clearly express their support for a strong Creative Europe – Culture strand in AgoraEU in their positions. The proposed funding by the Commission represents only the bare minimum needed to sustain the European cultural sector; therefore, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU need to further strengthen and increase this budget as negotiations move forward.

What does Culture Action Europe suggest you do in the coming months?

• Endorse our Ask, Pay, Trust the Artist campaign.
• Send a letter to your national finance minister about strengthening the Creative Europe budget in the MFF negotiations. The instructions are here. So far, Culture Action Europe’s members in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden have already sent their letters. 
• Other funding instruments—such as Horizon Europe, the Competitiveness Fund, and National Plans—also include references that could enable the cultural sector to benefit from EU funding. That’s why in the coming months, we need to engage with national ministers responsible for research, economy, regional development, and foreign affairs to ensure that culture remains part of the legal basis of these programmes and is meaningfully integrated across other sectors.
• Write to your Member of the European Parliament. The instructions will soon be available here.  

take action!

Go deeper

Here are the links to the official AgoraEU documents:

• AgoraEU Regulation proposal
• Summary of Impact Assessment
• Impact Assessment 
• Opinion of the Scrutiny Board 

Image credit: Mariana Predroza