Creative Europe Programme (CREA) Call 2026

Creative Europe's stated aims are to:

• support the creation of European works and help the cultural and creative sectors seize the opportunities of the digital age and globalisation, in order to reach their economic potential, contributing to sustainable growth, jobs, and social cohesion;

• promote the competitiveness and innovation of the European audiovisual industry and help Europe's culture and media sectors access new international opportunities, markets, and audiences;

• promote cross-sectoral innovative actions and diverse, independent and pluralistic media.

Creative Europe brings together actions supporting the European cultural and creative sectors . The general objectives of the Programme are:

• to safeguard, develop and promote European cultural and linguistic diversity and heritage;

• to increase the competitiveness and the economic potential of the cultural and creative sectors, in particular the audiovisual sector. These goals are pursued through the following specific objectives:

• enhancing artistic and cultural cooperation at the European level, in order to support the creation of European works to foster innovation and mobility within Europe’s cultural and creative sectors and strengthen their economic, social and external dimension (Culture strand);

• promoting the competitiveness, scalability, cooperation, innovation, and sustainability, including through mobility in the European audiovisual sector (MEDIA strand); and

• promoting policy cooperation and innovative actions supporting all strands of the Programme, promoting a diverse, independent and pluralistic media environment, and media literacy, thereby fostering freedom of artistic expression, intercultural dialogue and social inclusion (Cross-Sectoral strand).

The general and specific objectives of the Programme take into account the dual nature of the cultural and creative sectors, recognising, on the one hand, the intrinsic and artistic value of culture and, on the other, the economic value of those sectors, including their broader contribution to growth and competitiveness, creativity and innovation. The objectives are pursued in a way that encourages inclusion, equality, diversity and participation, including, where appropriate, specific incentives that encourage the active participation in the cultural and creative sectors of people with disabilities, people belonging to minorities and people belonging to socially marginalised groups, including both the creative process and audience development; and gender equality, in particular as a driver of economic growth, innovation and creativity