The European Union provides funding for a broad range of projects and programmes and the funding. Funds are provided in the form of:
- Grants for specific projects in relation to EU policies, usually following a public announcement known as a “call for proposals”. Part of the funding comes from the EU, part from other sources.
- Contracts issued by EU institutions to buy in services, goods or works they need for their operations. Contracts are awarded through “calls for tender”.
Who can apply for funding?
Several types of entities and citizens can apply for funding:
- Small businesses: can obtain EU funding through grants, loans and guarantees. Grants provide direct support, while other funding is available through programmes managed nationally.
- Non-governmental & civil society organisations: may be eligible for funding, provided they are active in EU policy areas and on a non-profit basis.
- Young people: there are two main types of funding:
– Education & training – study opportunities through Erasmus+, support for pupils nearing the end of secondary education, and vocational training in another country
– Youth – co-funding of projects which encourage civic involvement, volunteer work and a broader multicultural outlook. - Researchers: between 2014 and 2020, the EU will provide almost €80bn in funding for research, mainly through its flagship research programme Horizon 2020. This funding usually takes the form of grants, to part-finance a broad range of research projects.
Further official details can be found here.
Besides specific calls for tenders and for proposals, there are some major programmes which are worth mentioning:
- Erasmus+: Erasmus+ is the EU’s programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. Its budget of €14.7 billion will provide opportunities for over 4 million Europeans to study, train gain experience, and volunteers abroad. Besides, it has opportunities for a wide variety of individuals and organisations. Further information can be found here.
- Horizon 2020: is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020) – in addition to the private investment that this money will attract. It promises more breakthroughs, discoveries and world-firsts by taking great ideas from the lab to the market. Further information can be found here.
- Creative Europe: The EU-funded Creative Europe programme is supporting the mobility of artists and culture professionals with the objective of promoting the transnational circulation of cultural and creative works and operators, as well as capacity-building. Creative Europe aims at creating the best possible conditions for artists, culture professionals and cultural organisations to work across borders so that their work can reach as many people as possible in Europe and internationally.
- COSME: is the EU programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises running from 2014 – 2020 with a planned budget of EUR 2.3 billion. The Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) manages COSME on behalf of the European Commission. Expressions of interest related to COSME can be found on the EASME website.
- Europe for Citizens: The aim of this programme is to contribute to citizens’ understanding of the EU, its history and diversity and to foster European citizenship and improve conditions for civic and democratic participation at EU level. Further information can be found here.
Further info here.
It is really important that you keep track of the EU site for calls related to Culture. You can find the website here.
[Insert feed with the last grants from the site http://ec.europa.eu/culture/calls/index_en.htm]
Capacity Building in the field of youth
- Reference: EAC/A04/2015
- Deadline: 12:00 – 02/02/2016
Support for a preparatory action to create an EU Festival award and an EU Festival label in the field of culture – EFFE (Europe for Festivals – Festivals for Europe)
- Reference: EAC/S05/2016
- Deadline: 16:00 – 21/06/2016
Support for cooperation projects related to the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018
- Reference: EACEA 35/2017
- Deadline: 12:00 – 22/11/2017
Source: feed from the EC website: Calls for proposals and tenders of EU Culture
National governments also provide funding opportunities in different ways. Here you have some hints for Spain, Italy and Greece.
In Spain, different institutions are providing funding for your projects within the Creative and Cultural sector. The main institutions are:
- Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y de Cooperación
- Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad
- Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte
- Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad
Besides, autonomous governments are also providing funding and so are other Spanish institutions. The Spanish government has prepared a comprehensive list which is constantly updated and can be consulted here.
In Greece, funding opportunities for artists and members of the Cultural and Creative Sector are provided from both public and private initiatives.
In the public sector, the key funding provider is the Ministry of Culture and Sports (www.culture.gr), which provides Cultural Sponsorships mainly to non – profit organisations.
In the private sector, most funding opportunities come from art and cultural foundations and centres, as well as NGOs that are active in the field. Some indicative examples are the following:
- ARTWORKS: Artist Fellowship Programme (www.art-works.gr) of Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), that provides financial aid to Greek artists aged between 25 and 35 years old
- NEON non – profit organisation (www.neon.org.gr), that supports working artists through a programme of scholarships and grants, providing them with access to education, research and production resources.
In Italy, funding opportunities for the CCS are various. The Italian partners of the ArtS project compiled a report to summarize such opportunities.
You can find the report here