CREA 2025. What is the Creative Europe Programme?

26 February 2025

The Creative Europe Programme is an initiative of the European Union aimed at supporting the cultural and creative sectors, fostering transnational cooperation and innovation. CREA 2025 is the extended version of the programme, with objectives covering the period 2021-2027, focusing on promoting creativity and innovation across various disciplines. Through this programme, cultural and creative projects can receive funding for the creation, circulation, and visibility of European content in the global context.

The Parts of the Creative Europe Programme

The Creative Europe Programme is divided into three main sub-programmes: Culture, Media, and Interculturality, all of which focus on promoting cultural diversity, exchange, and innovation on an international scale.

Culture Sub-programme

This sub-programme focuses on supporting cooperation between cultural and creative organisations from different countries, promoting the creation and circulation of artistic works, and strengthening the European cultural infrastructure.

Media Sub-programme

The Media sub-programme is targeted at the audiovisual sector and supports the production, distribution, and promotion of cinematic and audiovisual works. Through this sub-programme, projects in film, television, digital platforms, and other media are funded.

Interculturality Sub-programme

This pillar promotes collaboration between European cultural sectors and other parts of the world, supporting the creation of international networks and the exchange of best practices in the creative industry.

The Creative Europe programme offers a wide range of open calls covering various areas of creativity and culture. Below is a summary of the 17 open calls, with their respective deadlines and allocated budgets:

1. CREA-CROSS-2025-INNOVLAB (CREA-PJG)

Objective: Support the development of innovative tools applicable to the cultural and creative sectors.
Budget: Not specified.
Deadline: 24 April 2025.

2. CREA-CROSS-2025-JOURPART-COLLABORATIONS (CREA-PJG)

Objective: Foster the economic sustainability of media through transnational collaborations.
Budget: Not specified.
Deadline: 27 February 2025.

3. CREA-CROSS-2025-JOURPART-PLURALISM (CREA-PJG)

Objective: Support media pluralism, especially in independent and local media.
Budget: Not specified.
Deadline: 27 February 2025.

4. CREA-CROSS-2025-MEDIALITERACY (CREA-PJG)

Objective: Develop innovative media literacy initiatives across Europe.
Budget: Not specified.
Deadline: 6 March 2025.

5. CREA-CULT-2025-COOP-1 (CREA-LS)

Objective: Small-scale cultural cooperation projects between organisations from different countries.
Budget: Up to EUR 200,000.
Deadline: 13 May 2025.

6. CREA-CULT-2025-COOP-2 (CREA-LS)

Objective: Medium-scale cultural cooperation projects promoting innovation in the creative industries.
Budget: Up to EUR 1,000,000.
Deadline: 13 May 2025.

7. CREA-CULT-2025-COOP-3 (CREA-LS)

Objective: Large-scale cultural cooperation projects to promote the circulation of European works.
Budget: Up to EUR 2,000,000.
Deadline: 13 May 2025.

8. CREA-MEDIA-2025-AUDFILMEDU (CREA-PJG)

Objective: Develop audience and film education projects for European cinema.
Budget: Not specified.
Deadline: 27 March 2025.

9. CREA-MEDIA-2025-CINNET (CREA-PJG)

Objective: Create networks of European cinemas to promote non-national European films.
Budget: Not specified.
Deadline: 16 July 2025.

10. CREA-MEDIA-2025-DEVMINISLATE (CREA-LS)

Objective: Support the development of mini-slate audiovisual projects across Europe.
Budget: Not specified.
Deadline: 17 September 2025.

11. CREA-MEDIA-2025-FEST (CREA-LS)

Objective: Support film festivals that promote the circulation of non-national films.
Budget: Not specified.
Deadline: 11 March 2025.

12. CREA-MEDIA-2025-FILMDIST (CREA-PJG)

Objective: Improve the distribution of non-national European films.
Budget: Not specified.
Deadline: 24 April 2025.

13. CREA-MEDIA-2025-FILMOVE (CREA-PJG)

Objective: Support the distribution of non-national European films via cinemas and online platforms.
Budget: Not specified.
Deadline: 20 March 2025.

14. CREA-MEDIA-2025-FILMSALES (CREA-PJG)

Objective: Support European film sales agents to increase international distribution.
Budget: Not specified.
Deadline: 19 June 2025.

15. CREA-MEDIA-2025-TRAINING (CREA-PJG)

Objective: Train audiovisual professionals in new technologies and sustainable practices.
Budget: Not specified.
Deadline: 24 April 2025.

16. CREA-MEDIA-2025-TVONLINE (CREA-LS)

Objective: Support the production and distribution of content for television and digital platforms.
Budget: Not specified.
Deadline: 14 May 2025.

How to Access Creative Europe Funding

Organisations and companies interested in accessing these funding opportunities must follow the guidelines and requirements outlined in each specific call. Most calls require the participation of at least three entities from different European countries, and projects must demonstrate a clear focus on transnational cooperation and innovation.

The Creative Europe programme offers a wide variety of funding opportunities for the cultural and creative sectors in Europe. The open calls cover everything from cultural cooperation projects to audience development for European cinema and audiovisual content distribution. If you have a cultural or creative project, don’t miss the opportunity to take advantage of Creative Europe‘s funding opportunities to boost your initiative.

Kaila helps you find funding opportunities within Creative Europe and the main European funding programmes. Learn how to find funding for your project in this tutorial.