EU approves €2.5 billion funding for cultural and creative industries

Culture
24 May 21

The funding will come with a special focus on diversity and helping female artists.

The European Parliament has approved funding worth €2.5 billion to go towards creative and cultural sectors for the years 2021-2027, in an initiative to help deal with the fallout from COVID-19.

Funding will help women in creative fields, with MEPs ensuring that "Creative Europe" will aid female talent and "disabled people and socially marginalised groups in the creative and cultural sectors".

Countries will be obligated to use this funding for women in these fields.

It is due to be the biggest funding of these sectors by the European Union since the establishment of the bloc in 1993.

According to the European Parliament, as part of the funding, money will also go towards the media industry to promote media literacy and press freedom in the digital age of news.

Ireland South MEP and member of Fine Gael, Deirdre Clune, welcomed this, saying that "The cultural sector is so important to us in Ireland and we must continue to support them and help it to recover from Covid-19."

“There is a new element to this funding whereby there will be funding available to support female talent. Also the programme will help support the news media which will help support quality journalism in Ireland which we should and must support as best we can."

“The City of Culture initiative is funded under this programme and Cork had a very successful year in 2005 when it hosted the City of Culture. There is a new element to this funding whereby there will be funding available to support female talent. Also the programme will help support the news media which will help support quality journalism in Ireland which we should and must support as best we can.”

Meanwhile, 300 UK cultural organisations wrote to Boris Johnson in April demanding supports for post Brexit touring.

The letter, primarily organised by the Incorporated Society Of Musicians, stated that while "the Government is working 'flat out' with individual EU member states, this by itself is not sufficient to deliver frictionless mobility for our sector which was a commitment during the Brexit negotiations."