Following the adoption of the work programme for the first year of the Creative Europe 2021-2027 programme, the European Commission has launched new actions to support the cultural and creative sectors in Europe and beyond. The total programme budget of €2.4 billion over seven years has increased by 63% compared to the previous one.

In 2021, Creative Europe programme will allocate an unprecedented budget of around €300 million to help professionals and artists from all cultural sectors to collaborate across disciplines and borders, to find more opportunities and to reach new audiences. This allocation lays the foundations for the first calls for proposals under the new programme. The calls will be open to all organisations active in the relevant cultural and creative sectors. Creative Europe also aims to increase the competitiveness of cultural sectors while supporting their efforts to become greener, more digital and more inclusive. Special attention is given to reinforcing the resilience and recovery of the cultural and creative sectors in light of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Actions covered by Creative Europe include:

-A scheme to support the translation of literary works and the development of publishing partnerships

-EU Prizes in the fields of literature, music, architecture, and cultural heritage, as well as the European Capitals of Culture and European Heritage Label initiatives

-Strengthening the accessibility and visibility of European audiovisual works across platforms and borders

-Creative Innovation Lab – encouraging innovative approaches to content creation, distribution, and promotion across different sectors

-Promotion of media literacy, pluralism and freedom as European values.