Commission evaluates a decade of Creative Europe
The European Commission has published the final evaluation of the Creative Europe Programme for the 2014–2020 period, together with the interim evaluation of the current 2021–2027 programme. The results confirm that the Programme has made a significant contribution to safeguarding cultural diversity and strengthening competitiveness, particularly in the audiovisual sector.
The evaluation is based on an external study carried out by ECORYS Europe and KEA European Affairs and included a comprehensive analysis of data and indicators assessing the impact of the Programme’s three structural strands – Culture, MEDIA and Cross-sectoral – over the 2014–2023 period.
Within the Culture strand, Creative Europe supported more than 1,800 cultural projects in Europe and beyond, contributing to the development of a strong European cultural ecosystem. The Programme played a key role in fostering cross-border cooperation, involving 4,200 organisations in transnational projects during the 2014–2020 period and an additional 2,500 organisations between 2021 and 2023.
Support for mobility, cultural networks and platforms significantly strengthened capacities and skills in the cultural and creative sectors and contributed to the internationalisation of cultural professionals’ careers, with almost 300,000 mobility days funded up to 2020 and more than 160,000 mobility days between 2021 and 2023. At the same time, the Programme encouraged cultural diversity and the circulation of European cultural works, with more than 4,500 literary translations supported.
Creative Europe helped cultural and creative organisations reach new audiences beyond national and linguistic borders, with cultural activities supported during the 2014–2020 period being accessed at least 91.5 million times. The Programme also made a substantial contribution to broader EU policies in the areas of sustainability, social inclusion, gender equality and cultural diplomacy, demonstrating a high level of resilience and flexibility during periods of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
Creative Europe Desks also played an important role in the success of the Programme, proving to be a key source of support for potential applicants, in particular smaller organisations with limited capacities. Building on the lessons learned from the evaluation, both the current Programme and its future successors will be able to build on these achievements and pursue even more ambitious goals.
More information about the report is available here