Creative Europe: Commission launches first calls for proposals to support audiovisual industry

The Commission has published the first three calls for proposals opened under the framework of the Creative Europe MEDIA 2022, a programme with a total of €226 million of EU funding available this year. It aims at supporting the recovery of the audiovisual industry and strengthening its competitiveness both within Europe and worldwide. More calls will be published in the coming weeks and months.

Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton said: “In 2022, we will intensify our support to Europe’s cultural and creative sectors, heavily hit by the COVID-19 crisis. Today we announce the first of a long series of funding opportunities to stand by this crucial sector both through and beyond its recovery. Creative Europe will invest in innovation with digital technologies and in new types of content, from high-end TV series to virtual reality.”

The Creative Europe MEDIA programme has adapted to the challenges and opportunities driven by the developments in the audiovisual markets. This year, it has introduced three new calls for proposals under: video games and immersive content development, networks of European festivals and MEDIA 360°tailored for supporting existing industries, new talents and markets as well as promoting cooperation among different sectors.

Call for Networks of European Festivals

In addition to these initial calls representing €41 million under the MEDIA umbrella, a call focused on media literacy has also been published today within the programme’s cross-sectoral strand, representing €2.4 million in EU funds. Several other calls within the three strands of the Creative Europe Programme will be published in the Commission’s Funding and Tender opportunities Portal.

The budget for the 2022 Creative Europe is €385.6 million, an increase of about 30% compared to 2021.

Creative Europe: Increased budget in 2022 to support cultural and creative sectors

Background

The Creative Europe programme since 2021 has consisted of three strands: the MEDIA strand provides support for the audiovisual sector, the Culture strand covers every other area of the cultural and creative sectors, and the Cross sectoral strand provides opportunities for cross-sectoral collaboration and the news media sector. An unprecedented €2.2 billion has been allocated to this programme under the new Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027, having thus become the biggest ever funding programme devoted to supporting the cultural and creative sector at EU level.

The Creative Europe programme is fully aligned with the European Democracy Action Plan and the Media and Audiovisual Action Plan, adopted in December 2020. The programme supports media freedom, pluralism and media literacy, as announced in the European Democracy Action Plan and take forward the Media and Audiovisual Action Plan’s efforts to support the recovery and transformation of the media and audiovisual sectors.

For questions, assistance related to the programme and help cooperating with organisations in other countries, Creative Europe Desks are in place in every participating country.

Source: European Commission

For More Information

Creative Europe programme

Creative Europe 2022 work programme