A Decade of Creative Europe: Evaluation Report
Creative Europe is the European Union’s main programme supporting the cultural, creative and audiovisual sectors. A new evaluation report brings together the final evaluation of Creative Europe 2014–2020 (CE1) and the mid-term evaluation of Creative Europe 2021–2027 (CE2).
The report concludes that Creative Europe delivers strong European added value, fostering lasting cooperation, cultural diversity and resilience across borders. However, to meet rising demand and respond to emerging challenges, the programme will require improved accessibility and adequate funding aligned with its growing ambition.
With a total budget of €2.44 billion for 2021–2027, representing a 66% increase compared to the previous funding period, Creative Europe has expanded its reach. Despite accounting for just 0.2% of the overall EU budget, the programme has consistently achieved full budget execution, including during periods of severe crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian war against Ukraine.
According to the report, the Culture strand under CE1supported over 1,200 transnational projects, enabling more than 22,000 cultural professionals to internationalise their careers. Between 2021 and 2023 alone, CE2 funded 630 projects, channeled €294 million to over 2,000 organisations in 39 countries, facilitated the translation of more than 1,500 literary works, and supported mobility for over 3,800 emerging artists through Culture Moves Europe. Evidence shows that eight out of ten collaborations continued after project completion.
At the same time, the report highlights significant structural challenges. Demand for funding far exceeds available resources, with applications for cooperation projects reaching up to four times the available budget. While recent measures, such as capping participation per organisation, introducing lump sums and simplifying procedures, have reduced administrative burdens, accessibility remains uneven across sectors and countries. Some fields, including fashion and design, remain underrepresented, and further outreach is needed in countries with lower participation rates. However, feedback from beneficiaries suggest that the administrative burden decreased under the current Programme, with 73% of participants from CE1 considering application costs to be high, reduced to 66% in CE2.
