Creative Europe, the programme through which the European Union has funded culture and the audiovisual sector since 2014, could cease to exist as a standalone programme. In July 2025, the European Commission proposed that, from 2028, it be integrated into a larger programme called AgoraEU. It proposed this with more funding. However, the budget is decided by the Member States, and the negotiation has just taken a different direction.
What is AgoraEU
The AgoraEU proposal would merge two current programmes, Creative Europe and the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme, into three strands:
- Creative Europe–Culture, for the cultural sector.
- MEDIA+, for the audiovisual and media sectors.
- CERV+, for citizenship, rights and democratic values.
Within the Union's 2028-2034 budget, the European Commission proposes allocating €8.6 billion to it: €1.8 billion for culture, €3.2 billion for MEDIA+ and €3.6 billion for CERV+. For culture, this would approximately double what it receives today.
The negotiation
In May 2026, the Council agreed a partial position on AgoraEU, without figures: the decision on its budget depends on the final agreement on the financial framework.
The figures arrived in October. On 10 October, the Irish Presidency of the Council presented a new negotiating framework. According to the European Broadcasting Union, which denounced it on 15 October, the Irish Presidency of the Council's proposal would reduce AgoraEU's budget to €6 billion, a reduction of around 30% from the European Commission's proposed €8.6 billion. It is a negotiating proposal, not a decision of the Council. I have been unable to consult the Presidency's document: the figure comes from the sector's reaction.
The sector's response
Culture Action Europe, the main network of European cultural organisations, welcomed the Commission's proposal in 2025, particularly the fact that culture would have its own strand. However, it warned that the figure was merely the essential minimum to sustain and develop the European cultural sector, and called on the Parliament and Council to increase it. If the proposed cut prevails, the negotiation will begin from a figure below that minimum.
The fourth time, on a different scale
In my view, what is currently being negotiated repeats, on a larger scale, what I outlined in "Creative Europe 2027": each year, the Commission proposes, the Council cuts and Parliament tries to recover the money. The difference is that this time the seven-year framework is being decided, not an annual budget, and with it the place of culture in the European project until 2034.
There is an added risk in the proposed merger. Within a common programme, culture would share a budget with media and democratic values, priorities which currently enjoy greater political support in Europe. The dedicated strand welcomed by the sector would only protect culture if its figure were set separately and could not be reallocated.
About the open conversation
This text separates data from my interpretation and does not constitute legal advice. If you work on European projects or cultural policy and wish to clarify a point or discuss this analysis, this notebook remains open: write to me.
The author's relationship to the cases
There is no financial, professional or collection relationship with the individuals, companies and institutions mentioned.