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.