Creative Europe: the European programme for the creative sector
On March 29th, the Office of the Sicilian Region in Brussels organized an Info Day on Creative Europe, a programme financed by the European Union. The conference has been held by Mr. Luca Mattiotti, Administrator at Culture and Education Committee of the European Parliament, and Ms. Fiona Deuss-Frandi, Project adviser Selection coordinator support to European cooperation projects at EACEA.
Creative Europe is a European Union programme which supports the European audiovisual, cultural and creative sector for the years 2014-2020. The programme finances projects which encourage the audiovisual, cultural and creative players to operate across Europe, to reach new audiences, to develop the skills needed in the digital age, and to safeguard cultural and linguistic diversity in the European Union.
The Culture sub-programme supports the capacity of the European cultural and creative sectors to operate transnationally and internationally, to promote the circulation of cultural and creative works and the transnational mobility of cultural and creative players, in particular of artists.
Mr. Luca Mattiotti highlighted the current legislative status for the budget and the regulation of the Creative Europe programme in the next Multiannual Financial Framework 2021 – 2027. “Yesterday [28 March, ed.], the report of the European Parliament on the proposal for the next Creative Europe regulation has been voted with a large majority. The report will be used as the basis of negotiation with the Council and the Commission for the future regulation of the programme”. The European Parliament proposes the increment of the current € 1.4 billion budget up to € 2.8 billion. The draft regulation takes into account the recent European Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, as it affects sectors which are connected to Creative Europe. Finally, Mr. Mattiotti remarked the introduction of more efficient rules to create a coherent strategy between the Creative Europe resources with other European programmes and funds spent in this sector, such as Horizon 2020, the European Regional Development Fund, and the European Social Fund.
Then, Ms. Deuss-Frandi explained the overall functioning of the programme and the information to present a project correctly. Candidates should be aware to present a proposal project coherent with the objectives of the call and that the eligibility criteria are met. The objectives of the cooperation project should be:
- To strengthen the capacity of the European cultural and creative sectors to operate transnationally and internationally and to promote the transnational circulation of cultural and creative works and transnational mobility of cultural and creative players, in particular artists;
- To contribute to the audience development by engaging in new and innovative ways with audiences and improve access to cultural and creative works in the Union and beyond;
- To contribute to innovation and creativity in the field of culture.
Eligible applicants (project leader/coordinator and partners) must be European cultural operators active in the cultural and creative sectors. Depending on the scale, needs, nature, objectives and priorities of the project, applicants must choose to apply under either Category 1 – Smaller scale cooperation projects or under Category 2 – Larger scale cooperation projects.
Furthermore, eligible projects must:
- for both categories, have a maximum duration of 48 months;
- for smaller scale cooperation projects (Category 1), the EU grant requested is no more than € 200 000 representing maximum 60% of the total eligible costs; furthermore, the projects under Category 1 shall involve an eligible project leader and at least two other eligible partners having their legal seat in at least three different countries taking part in Creative Europe – Culture Sub-programme;
- for larger scale cooperation projects (Category 2), the EU grant requested is no more than € 2.000.000 representing maximum 50% of the total eligible costs; furthermore, the projects under Category 2 shall involve an eligible project leader and at least five other eligible partners having their legal seat in at least six different countries taking part in Creative Europe – Culture Sub-programme.
Eligible applicants are assessed on the basis of the following criteria:
- Relevance (max. 30 points): how the project implements the selected policy priority(ies) on the basis of a substantiated strategy.
- Quality of the content and activities (max. 30 points): how the project will be implemented in practice (quality of the activities and deliverables, methodology) and how well related the activities are to the objectives of the project.
- Communication and dissemination (max. 20 points): the project’s approach to communicating its activities and results and to sharing knowledge and experiences within the sector and across borders.
- Quality of the partnership (max. 20 points): the extent to which the structure and management of the project will ensure the effective implementation of the project.
In any event and for both categories of projects (smaller/larger scale cooperation projects), to be considered for funding, proposals must score a minimum quality threshold of 75/100 points.
Even if the current call for the cooperation projects 2019 is closed, the event has been an important opportunity to be informed about this programme. In fact, Creative Europe will launch the next call for cooperation projects 2020 presumably in October, November. Be prepared in advance it’s a halfway to propose a successful project.