The action European Cooperation Projects supports projects involving organisations in the cultural and creative sectors of all sizes, including micro-organisations and small-sized organisations, and from different countries to undertake sectoral or cross-sectoral activities.
Proposals are expected to present a clear cross-border cooperation dimension as this is at the core of the European Cooperation Projects.
The action is anchored in the policy framework of the Culture strand of the Creative Europe Programme and the EU Overarching Priorities (EU greening efforts, inclusion and gender equality, digital transition and international relations).
European Cooperation Projects are open to all the cultural and creative sectors. However, considering that this action aims to pursue the objectives of the Culture strand of the Programme, projects involving exclusively organisations from the audio-visual sector and projects of an exclusive audiovisual content are out of scope for this call and therefore are not eligible for funding under it.
Proposals are expected to present a clear cross-border cooperation dimension as this is at the core of the European Cooperation Projects.
Topic CREA-CULT-2025-COOP-1 – Small Scale projects:
- The consortium most be composed of minimum 3 entities from 3 different eligible countries.
- The maximum EU grant amount is of EUR 200 000 per project.
- The funding rate is of maximum 80%
Topic CREA-CULT-2025-COOP-2 – Medium Scale projects:
- The consortium most be composed of minimum 5 entities from 5 different eligible countries.
- The maximum EU grant amount is of EUR 1 000 000 per project.
- The funding rate is of maximum 70%
Topic CREA-CULT-2025-COOP-3 – Large Scale projects:
- The consortium most be composed of minimum 10 entities from 10 different eligible countries.
- The maximum EU grant amount is of EUR 2 000 000 per project.
- The funding rate is of maximum 60%
Small-scale projects are particularly suitable to promote the access of grassroots organisations and support these organisations in the creation of new partnerships and development of new activities and innovative ideas (such as festivals, art fairs, exhibitions, performances, etc.).
Support will be given to projects contributing to one of the following objectives:
Objective 1 – Transnational creation and circulation: to strengthen the transnational creation and circulation of European works and artists.
Transnational creation and circulation are important for the advancement of collaborations, increased outreach and in many cases necessary for the viability and development of cultural organisations, institutions and individuals. Co-production is also a tool to stimulate creativity, share resources and facilitate the trans-national distribution of content and the circulation of artists. Projects will consider the new context such as health or environmental concerns and integrate innovative (digital) ways of producing and disseminating content.
Objective 2 – Innovation: to enhance the capacity of European cultural and creative sectors to nurture talents, to innovate, to prosper and to generate jobs and growth.
Projects responding to this objective should be of capacity-building nature, which can be of technological and/or artistic nature and may include the development and experimentation of new practices or models, as well as the transfer and dissemination of innovative practices.
Areas of innovation can encompass a social or societal dimension such as: audience engagement/development, gender equality, the inclusion of people with disabilities, people belonging to minorities and people belonging to socially marginalised groups, fighting climate change, digitisation, etc. as well as culture’s contribution to health and well-being, especially mental health, given the existing evidence and the persisting mental health crisis affecting in particular the youth.