As work continues on the European Union’s long-term budget after 2027, discussions are also under way on a new financial framework for culture, media and civil liberties. All these areas are to be covered by the AgoraEU programme, whose draft is being analysed by the European Parliament’s committees on culture and education (CULT) and civil liberties (LIBE). MEPs’ comments concern, among other issues, stronger protection of artistic and media freedom, as well as a more transparent distribution of funds between sectors.
“In the debate on the new budget, culture should be treated seriously, in the same way as defence and security. After all, we are all perfectly aware that our cultural heritage in Europe must be protected. We know what happened after Russia attacked Ukraine and how cultural organisations transported their cultural works to Poland. Many of these works are now not only being protected in Poland, but also restored,” Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus, Member of the European Parliament from The Left, tells Newseria. “First of all, I would like to change, and I am trying to change, the awareness of officials and politicians in the European Parliament that we should treat culture seriously as our heritage, which we must protect just as we protect our security.”
The European Commission proposed the creation of the AgoraEU programme in July 2025, together with its draft budget for 2028–2034. The programme is to consist of three main components. The first is “Creative Europe – Culture”, which is intended to contribute to the growth of creativity and cross-border cultural cooperation. The second is “Media+”, which is designed to increase the diversity and competitiveness of the audiovisual and video games sectors, as well as support free and independent journalism and news media. The third component is “CERV+”, which is intended to promote fundamental rights and equality, prevent discrimination, increase democratic participation and protect the rule of law.
“We have received the first proposal from the European Commission regarding the AgoraEU programme, which covers culture in the broad sense. In the parliamentary Committee on Culture and Education, we introduced our amendments and presented them to the European Commission. We now have a year of work, discussions, debates and negotiations ahead of us. I hope the final project will serve creators and culture. For now, what the Commission has presented differs somewhat from that,” says Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus.
In the draft report, the CULT and LIBE committees emphasised, among other things, the need for stronger guarantees for artistic freedom and media freedom, as well as greater emphasis on counteracting political and economic pressure on the cultural and media sectors. They also pointed to the need to strengthen civil society and democracy, as well as the position of the audiovisual sector and news media. MEPs also expressed concerns about excessive centralisation of the programme.
“There is always too little money for culture, but the European Commission has done something that is unacceptable to us as people of culture. It changed the financial envelope for culture and put everything into one basket. Issues such as film production or journalists cannot be thrown into the same basket. These are two separate areas, and this is what we are fighting for,” explains the MEP from The Left and member of the CULT Committee.
According to the Council of the EU, the draft regulation establishing the AgoraEU programme provides for total funding of EUR 8.6 billion. During talks between the institutions, proposals have emerged to increase this amount.
“The general proposal is to maintain a division between the area of audiovisual creativity in the broad sense, that is cinema, a separate category for news, a separate area related to culture, meaning theatre, literature and festivals. There should also be a separate envelope related to civil liberties. At the moment, everything is together, and that is one problem,” says Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus. “The second problem is very important and lies in the fact that the Commission does not understand that the definition of an independent creator is something that forms part of our cultural heritage. We cannot allow major American companies to benefit from our funding and budget. The key issue is therefore to protect the independence of European creators and do everything possible to ensure that the money in this basket is not dispersed into other areas, but also that entities from outside Europe cannot draw from it.”
Polish creators can apply for funding for international activities carried out within the cultural, creative and audiovisual sectors under the Creative Europe 2021–2027 programme. Its budget amounts to EUR 2.4 billion. Initiatives already supported include the New Horizons International Film Festival, the Kids Kino International Film Festival and the international distribution campaign for the film “Corpus Christi”.
“Polish creators do indeed use this funding, but they are not among the leading organisations obtaining it. The reason is simple: in order to obtain funding, one has to find partners, sometimes at least seven of them, and be able to write an application, which is very difficult to prepare. One also has to prove and meet the indicators specified in the application,” explains the MEP. “Very often, when I talk to cultural organisations, they point out that the bureaucratic nature of the application is the main barrier.”
