A list and overview of culture-related programmes

There is life (and funds) beyond Culture 2000; many EU initiatives are actively giving to culture, and lots of them aren't known at all. BO is out to change this. A comprehensive list of all the programmes that culture can get money from, this overview is sorted into groups of programmes relating to audiovisual policy, regional development, employment and training, research and technological development, agriculture, the information society, tourism and business.

Culture and audiovisual media

The Commission runs the Media Plus programme (2001 - 2005) with the objective of making the audiovisual industry more competitive in terms of training for professionals the development, distribution and promotion of European audiovisual works.
Moreover, following the adoption of the Television Without Frontiers Directive in 1989, a legal framework for the free movement of television services in the EU has allowed the development of a European television market and related services, such as television advertising and the production of audiovisual programmes.

Culture and regional development

The means to strengthen economic and social cohesion, the Union uses the Structural Funds (European Regional Development Fund, European Social Fund, Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance, European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund). (It also finances projects to reduce the lag in the development of certain regions in the European Union.) The funds available for regional development make up the lion's share of the European budget for culture. They cover the period 2000 to 2006 with a budget of EUR 195 billion.

Fund distribution is based on three priority objectives, four Community initiatives and some specific innovatory projects.

• The three priority objectives:
  -Objective 1 targets the regions whose development is lagging behind;
  -Objective 2 supports the economic and social restructuring of areas in structural difficulty outside Objective 1 regions;
  -Objective 3 supports training measures outside Objective 1 regions.
  They generally target local and regional partners. In its guidelines for the period 2000 - 2006, the Commission asks the Member States to promote cultural development with a view to job creation potential (as culture not only allows a region to assert its identity but also to develop its tourism potential). Moreover, job creation in the cultural sector is not insignificant and it helps to develop certain activities such as online services and the media.
• The four Community initiatives: Interreg III (cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation), Urban (the regeneration of towns and cities in crisis), Leader + (local rural development) and Equal (transnational cooperation in countering all forms of discrimination and inequality as regards access to the labour market). These initiatives aren't specifically for culture funding, but will give money to cultural projects if their objectives are common.
• The innovatory projects encourage local and regional actors to cooperate in various areas of common interest, which may be focused on cultural development.

Culture and human resources

The Union's employment policy (Articles 125 et seq.) targets the cultural operators amongst others. The strategy also underpins European activities relating to employment. For example, the European Social Fund (ESF) finances employee training measures (not to mention pilot projects and innovative measures, managed by the European Commission). Training of staff in the cultural sector is mainly done through the ESF. Other social programmes and actions to promote education and training are also available:

• The HELIOS programme, which promotes equal opportunities in the world of work, actions to counter social exclusion and initiatives targeting those in greatest need and those with disabilities. A new action programme encompassing various aspects of social inclusion is to be introduced in 2001.
• The Union's education and training measures are available to teachers, pupils and students from all disciplines (and other professionals interested in culture). The Socrates programme encourages mobility among students, schoolchildren and teachers within the European Union. The Leonardo programme promotes vocational training, while the Youth programme encourages young Europeans to carry out cultural projects. The Jean Monnet Project supports universities wishing to set up courses on European integration, and the Robert Schumann Project promotes training for members of the legal profession in the various aspects of European regulations. Finally, the programme for the protection and promotion of minority or regional languages also helps to promote cultural heritage.

Culture and research and technological development

The aim of the Fifth Framework Programme for research and technological development (1998 - 2002) is to increase the competitiveness of businesses and to make research available for public use. Some research programmes focus their resources on projects relating directly to cultural activities.

• The 'User-friendly Information Society' programme should make information and communication technologies more accessible to the European public
• The 'Competitive and sustainable growth' programme takes up the challenges facing European industry and focuses on sustainable mobility, intermodality and new cultural materials.
• The 'Energy, environment and sustainable development' programme includes a project which aims to preserve the cultural heritage and develop sustainable tourism.
• The 'horizontal' programmes also reinforce cultural activities. For example, 'Confirming the international role of Community research' encourages cooperation between companies and research institutes in the European Union and partners throughout the world.

Culture and agriculture

Although the Treaty provisions on implementing the common agricultural policy (CAP) do not explicitly relate to cultural activities, note that agriculture is an integral part of European culture in a broad sense. Moreover, the provisions promote traditional forms of production, preservation of the cultural heritage and the creation of jobs relating to culture. Some regulatory provisions promote the geographical protection of traditional forms of production which preserve older methods of production, and a policy supporting agricultural markets, particularly the wine and olive oil sectors, takes into account the traditional dimension of such production. In terms of rural development, support is provided for initiatives intended to diversify employment and curb rural depopulation, and the objective of the Community initiative Leader+ is to enhance the cultural and natural heritage and create new activities such as rural tourism.

Information society

The emergence of new information technologies brings with it new methods of work in the cultural sphere and the Commission encourages the application of these. In addition to the 'User-friendly Information Society' research programme, the ' eEurope ' initiative is designed to bring the information society closer to the European public. Action programmes have been adopted for administration ('eContent') and education (' eLearning '). The 'eContent' programme supports businesses and administrations wishing to improve access to information from the public sector, enhance multicultural content and increase the dynamism of the digital content market. The 'eLearning' programme supports the development of use of the Internet and multimedia in educational and training institutions (also being an opportunity for fund-seeking cultural operators).
Other programmes target companies and various public and private operators. For example, the ISDN programme facilitates digital communications, PROMISE promotes public awareness of the information society, and the aim of the IDA programme is to set up a system of data interchange between administrations. Mainly infrastructural, but culture does have an infrastructure.

Culture and environment

The preservation of natural habitats as cultural heritage is encouraged by

• the LIFE III financial instrument, which was created in order to support environmental projects and preserve natural habitats, and
• the Habitat Directive encourages the preservation of biodiversity in the European Union.

Culture and tourism

Although tourism may be regarded as one of the areas most closely linked with the area of culture, the European Union's involvement in the field of tourism is very limited. Major activities may be carried out under the Structural Funds.

Culture and small and medium-sized enterprises

The European Union supports in particular the development of small and medium-sized enterprises. These small businesses may be involved in the cultural sector. For example, the aim of the multiannual programme for enterprise, entrepreneurship and small and medium-sized enterprises (2001 - 2006) is to increase companies' competitiveness, simplify the administrative environment, promote access to funding, encourage entrepreneurship and facilitate access to business support networks.
Various financial instruments to help develop and set up companies are also managed by the European Commission or the EIB group ( European Investment Bank and European Investment Fund ). Moreover, following the Lisbon European Council in March 2000, the EIB group is funding activities in the audiovisual sector under the Innovation 2000 project.

Other European Union measures to promote culture

Every year since 1989, on the initiative of the European Parliament, the European Commission has provided funding for town twinning , in order to develop exchanges between citizens and hold seminars and conferences. These exchanges may be cultural in nature.