On 18 June 2026, in Brussels, the presidencies of the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Republic of Cyprus — which held the rotating Presidency of the Council — signed the declaration 'Europe for culture, culture for Europe'. The text brings together twelve principles: artistic freedom of expression, cultural and linguistic diversity, inclusive access to culture, fair remuneration and decent working conditions for artists and professionals, ethical use of artificial intelligence and integration of cultural considerations into Union policies.
The official statement described the signing as a commitment to place culture "at the centre of the European project". The wording has political reach. The budgetary proposal allows one to measure the extent of its financial translation, for the time being.
What the proposal says
On 16 July 2025, the Commission presented its proposal for the multiannual financial framework for 2028-2034. It amounts to 1.76 trillion euros at 2025 constant prices and approximately 1.98 trillion at current prices, equivalent to 1.26% of the Union's gross national income.
The proposal eliminates Creative Europe as an independent programme. Its Culture and MEDIA branches move to AgoraEU, a programme that also incorporates policies on democracy, citizenship, equality, rights and values. The proposed endowment for AgoraEU is 8.58 billion euros at current prices:
- 1.79 billion for Creative Europe — Culture.
- 3.19 billion for MEDIA+.
- 3.59 billion for democracy, citizenship, equality, rights and values.
Of the 1,984.894 billion in the proposed framework, the cultural branch represents 0.090%. That is nine cents in every hundred euros. Culture and audiovisual combined total 0.251%. AgoraEU as a whole reaches 0.432%.
The percentage requires precision: that 0.09% is not equivalent to all European expenditure with cultural effects. Culture can receive resources from cohesion, research, education or regional development funds. The figure measures something more delimited: the weight of the only budgetary branch specifically dedicated to culture within the Commission's proposal.
More nominal money, less autonomy
The comparison with the current period does not admit a simple headline either. Creative Europe has 2.44 billion euros available for 2021-2027 and its regulation reserves at least 33% for Culture. The corresponding minimum is around 805 million. The 1.79 billion proposed for 2028-2034 would therefore imply a considerable nominal increase for the cultural branch.
But the figures belong to different periods and prices, and the institutional perimeter is changing. Nominal growth does not eliminate two issues: the cultural programme loses autonomy by being integrated into AgoraEU and its endowment remains marginal within the total budget. More money than before and a weight of 0.09% can be true at the same time.
The 2% benchmark
Cultural Deal for Europe, a campaign promoted since 2020 by the European Cultural Foundation, Culture Action Europe and Europa Nostra, demands that at least 2% of the Union's budget be allocated to culture and heritage.
A direct comparison with 0.09% would be misleading if presented as an equivalence. The campaign uses a broader definition: it does not limit cultural expenditure to a single branch and aims to mobilise resources from different programmes. Even with that caution, the distance serves to situate the scales. Applied to the total proposed at current prices, 2% would be around 39.7 billion euros over seven years. The Culture branch of AgoraEU would receive 1.79 billion, about twenty-two times less. The difference does not by itself demonstrate a failure to comply, because different perimeters are being compared; it does show how much the 2% target would depend on funds outside the specific cultural heading.
Negotiations remain open
None of this constitutes an approved budget as yet. The European Parliament established its mandate on 28 April 2026: it demands a framework equivalent to 1.27% of gross national income, with a further 0.11 percentage points outside the ceilings to repay NextGenerationEU debt. In 2025 constant prices, it proposes 1.789 trillion for Union policies, approximately 10% more than the Commission's proposal once the repayment of that debt is separated.
The Council has not finalised its position. The Cypriot Presidency presented an initial negotiating framework with figures in June. On 10 October, the Irish Presidency published a revision that reduces the volume proposed by the Commission by approximately 8%, to around 1.62 trillion euros at 2025 prices. That document is a compromise proposal between the States, not a definitive agreement. Nor does it, by itself, set the final allocation for AgoraEU or its cultural branch.
The financial framework requires the unanimity of the twenty-seven Member States and the approval of the European Parliament. The political objective remains to reach an agreement before the end of 2026 in order to pass the necessary legislation during 2027 and apply the new budget from 1 January 2028.
The distance between the signature and the figure
A declaration signed by the three institutions has value. It establishes a common language, acknowledges the precarious nature of cultural work and commits the Union to artistic freedom, diversity and decent working conditions. It is not irrelevant.
However, an institutional priority is also tested by the distribution of resources. Asserting that culture occupies the centre of the European project while reserving nine cents out of every hundred euros for its specific branch leaves a distance that language does not resolve. The answer does not consist solely in demanding a higher figure. It also requires knowing what expenditure will be considered cultural, in which programmes it will be housed, what portion will remain protected and under what rules small organisations and independent professionals will be able to gain access.
While the negotiation remains open, those are the useful questions. The 0.09% does not describe everything that Europe will spend on culture. It describes how much it is prepared to identify as culture, in an express and verifiable manner, in the programme created to sustain it.
About the open conversation
This text uses figures from a proposal still under negotiation and percentages calculated by me based on the total proposed. If you are following the European budget negotiation and can clarify any figure, this notebook remains open.
Sources
Council of the European Union, 'Europe for culture, culture for Europe', 18 June 2026.
European Commission, proposal for the EU budget for 2028-2034.
European Commission, proposal for the AgoraEU programme, COM(2025) 550.
European Parliamentary Research Service, AgoraEU 2028-2034, 16 February 2026.
European Parliament, position on the 2028-2034 financial framework.
Council of the European Union, EU long-term budget 2028-2034.
Irish Presidency of the Council, revised proposal for the long-term budget, 10 October 2026.