Culture is what unites us!

The European Parliament’s plenary session held an exchange of views on the Creative Europe program on Tuesday afternoon. In his speech, Fidesz MEP Ádám Kósa emphasized that European culture based on Greco-Roman and Judaeo-Christian foundations is the totality of the cultures of each nation. “By getting to know each other’s cultures, we can get closer to each other,” the MEP pointed out. In a written statement, Fidesz MEP Andrea Bocskor welcomed the fact that we can expect a significant budget increase for the Creative Europe program in the next seven-year budget period, which is definitely good news for Hungarian culture, creative industries and the audiovisual sector.

MEP Kósa reminded that culture contributes to the competitiveness of society by strengthening the foundations of the knowledge-based society, in which the development of public culture and community also play a significant role. “As the pandemic caused serious economic difficulties for cultural actors, Hungary, like many European countries, provided significant funding to museums, libraries, theaters, zoos, the film industry and book publishers, as well as funding high-quality online rural classical music concerts, but the pop music sector also got money,” the MEP said.

MEP Kósa was pleased that the Creative Europe program ensure people with disabilities to have greater access to a culture that promotes the full development of their personalities and enables their active participation, thus contributing to the realization of an inclusive and solidarity-based society. “In the light of these, the Creative Europe program should promote and increase participation in cultural life throughout Europe, in particular for people with disabilities and disadvantaged people, as well as those living in rural and remote areas,” he said.

In her written statement, Fidesz MEP Andrea Bocskor welcomed the fact that we can expect a significant budget increase for the Creative Europe program in the next seven-year budget period, which is definitely good news for Hungarian culture, creative industries and the audiovisual sector.

MEP Andrea Bocskor further emphasized that the Creative Europe program is the main European Union program to support culture, the creative industries and the audiovisual sector. The Creative Europe program has a total budget of € 2.2 billion for the next seven-year budgetary period, which is a significant increase in resources.

“I am pleased that the smaller Member States will be able to apply on equal terms with the large Member States in future calls for proposals, which will have a positive effect on the participation of actors in the Hungarian creative and audiovisual sector in the program. According to the 2014-2019 data, from when the framework program was launched, it was typical that the Hungarian organizations mostly participated in the projects as co-organizers, but over time they also achieved success as the main organizer and project manager. Creative Europe also offers good opportunities for projects aimed at preserving historical and cultural heritage and cross-border co-operation, therefore I hope that the widest possible range of Hungarian organizations will take advantage of this opportunity, ” added MEP Bocskor