EU Funded Projects
The purpose behind the present selection of projects is to share some insights with cultural practitioners in the South Mediterranean region to better inform their quest for funds and broaden the sources and possibilities in terms of European Union cooperation programmes that could answer their needs. You’ll notice that some of the projects were already closed, but were included in the selection to serve as examples of what one should consider in their search criteria when seeking funds.
Culture has been introduced officially in the European Union legislation through article 128 of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, stipulating in particular that the “Community shall take cultural aspects into account in its action under other provisions of this Treaty”. In other words, culture is a cross-cutting issue that shall be taken into consideration in all European Union policies.
Thanks to this legal basis, even if the European Union does not have any Cultural Policy, cultural projects can be presented and funded by most of European Union programmes, providing they meet their objectives and criteria. Indeed, the European Union cohesion policy, addressing mainly development issues (infrastructures, culture & tourism, creative industries, etc.) is by far the policy that allocates most funding to the cultural field.
Creative Europe is the European Commission's framework programme for support to the culture and audiovisual sectors. Following on from the previous Culture Programme and MEDIA programme, Creative Europe consists of two sub-programmes; the Culture sub-programme to promote the culture sector, and the MEDIA sub-programme to support the audiovisual sector.
The Creative Europe programme is open to cultural and creative organisations from non-EU Member states under certain conditions (so far ENP countries from the South have not adhered to the programme but can have access to certain funds through very specific rules).
The main objectives of this programme are to promote economic, social, institutional and cultural integration between Sicily region and Tunisia, mainly through joint and sustainable development processes.
The multilateral cross-border cooperation Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme aims at reinforcing cooperation between regions in the European Union and in partner countries located along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, and the promotion of cultural dialogue and local governance among other main objectives.
The Cooperation in Urban Development and Dialogue (CIUDAD) programme was designed to help local governments in the Mediterranean region to enhance their capacity to plan for sustainable, integrated and long-term urban development using good governance principles. It did this through capacity building and by promoting mutual understanding, exchange of experience and cooperation between local actors in the EU and in the Partner Countries of the ENI region in the implementation of common projects.
The programme is closed.
Euromed Audiovisual worked on enhancing sustainable transfer of knowledge and best practices through a wide set of training, capacity building of both professionals and national authorities and networking activities. Euromed Audiovisual considers the film industry not only as creative means of cultural expression and intercultural dialogue, but also of socio-economic development of the region.
The programme is currently closed.
Between 1998 and 2013, the Euromed Heritage regional programme committed a total of 57 million euros to fund partnerships between conservation experts and heritage institutions from the countries of the Mediterranean region. Almost 400 partners from the Member States of the European Union and MEDA countries (Algeria, Palestinian Authority, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey) benefited from the Programme during its four phases.
The programme is closed.