COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT IMPACT ASSESSMENT Accompanying the document Proposal for a Regulation establishing the Rights and Values programme Proposal for a Regulation establishing the Justice programme Proposal for a Regulation establishing the Creative Europe programme
Date: 2018-05-30
Institutions: Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, European citizenship, area of freedom, security and justice, cultural cooperation, cultural pluralism, fundamental rights, human rights, legal system, participatory democracy, rule of law

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 30.5.2018  SWD(2018) 290 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  IMPACT ASSESSMENT  Accompanying the document Proposal for a Regulation establishing the Rights and Values programme Proposal for a Regulation establishing the Justice programme Proposal for a Regulation establishing the Creative Europe  programme  {COM(2018) 366 final} - {COM(2018) 384 final} - {COM(2018) 383 final}  - {SEC(2018) 274 final}  - {SWD(2018) 291 final}  
 
 
Table of Contents 

1. 

Introduction: Political and legal context ................................................................. 4 
1.1. 
Scope and context .......................................................................................................... 6 
1.2.  Lessons learned from previous programmes .............................................................. 9 
Lessons learned on strategies and priorities .......................................................... 10 
Lessons learned on possible synergies .................................................................. 12 
Lessons learned on delivery mechanisms .............................................................. 13 
Lessons learned on monitoring .............................................................................. 13 

1.2.1. 
1.2.2. 
1.2.3. 
1.2.4. 

2.  The Objectives ......................................................................................................... 14 
2.1.  Challenges for the programmes of the next MFF ..................................................... 14 

Challenges in terms of flexibility and simplification: towards a new architecture, 

Common policy challenges: the added value of EU-level action on values and the 

2.1.1. 
subsidiarity principle ............................................................................................................. 14 
2.1.2. 
delivery mode and monitoring system of future programmes ............................................... 18 
2.2.  Objectives of the programmes of the next MFF ....................................................... 20 
The aim of the initiative ........................................................................................ 20 
The specific objectives of the future funding programmes ................................... 21 

2.2.1. 
2.2.2. 

3.2. 
3.3. 

3.  Programme structure and priorities ..................................................................... 24 
Key features of the current funding programmes: the baseline scenario ............... 24 
Alternative to the baseline scenario: a EU values framework with two funding 

3.1.1. 
3.1.2. 
programmes ........................................................................................................................... 26 
Discarded alternative: one programme .................................................................. 29 
3.1.3. 
Priorities ....................................................................................................................... 30 
Synergies with other funding programmes ............................................................... 33 
Synergies with the other programmes under the future "Investing in people and 

3.3.1. 
EU values" framework .......................................................................................................... 34 
Synergies with the "External Action" cluster of the budget .................................. 34 
3.3.2. 
Synergies with the Single Market Programmes .................................................... 34 
3.3.3. 
Synergies with budget cluster on Strategic Infrastructure ..................................... 35 
3.3.4. 
Synergies with Border management and security ................................................. 35 
3.3.5. 

4.  Delivery mechanisms of the intended funding ..................................................... 36 
4.1. 
Implementation mode ................................................................................................. 36 
4.2.  Type of expenditure .................................................................................................... 38 
4.3.  Alignment with recent changes in the Financial Regulation ................................... 39 

5.  How will performance be monitored and evaluated? .......................................... 39 

 
 
 
 
 
Glossary 

Term or acronym 

Meaning or definition 

AVMS Directive 

Audiovisual Media Services Directive 

CCS 

CSO 

DSM 

EACEA 

EEA 

EFTA 

FPI 

MFF 

MOOCs 

NGO 

REC 

SDG 

VOD 

VR 

Cultural and Creative Sectors  
Cultural  and  creative  sectors  are 
those  producing  and 
distributing  goods  or  services  which  at  the  time  they  are 
developed  are  considered  to  have  a  specific  attribute,  use  or 
purpose  which  embodies  or  conveys  cultural  expressions, 
irrespective  of  the  commercial  value  they  may  have  and  in 
particular,  including  those  industries  which  use  culture  as  an 
input and have a cultural dimension, although their outputs are 
mainly  functional.  As  defined  by  COM(2012)  537,  Cultural 
and  creative  sectors  cover  in  particular  architecture,  archives 
and  libraries,  artistic  crafts,  audio-visual  (including  film, 
television,  video  games  and  multimedia),  cultural  heritage, 
design (including fashion design), festivals, music, performing 
and visual arts, publishing and radio 

Civil Society Organisation 

Digital Single Market 

Education And Culture Executive Agency 

European Economic Area 

European  Free Trade Association 

Foreign Policy Instrument 

Multiannual Financial Framework 

Massive Open On-line Courses 

Non-Governmental Organisation 

Rights, Equality and Citizenship  

Sustainable Development Goal 

Video On Demand 

Virtual Reality 

3 

 
 
 
 
 
1. 

INTRODUCTION: POLITICAL AND LEGAL CONTEXT 

This  impact  assessment  was  prepared  to  analyse  a  possible  proposal  for  a  European  Culture, 
Rights  and  Values  programme  —  merging  the  2014-2020  Rights,  Equality  and  Citizenship 
programme, the Europe for Citizens programme and the Creative Europe programme — and the 
Justice programme. On 2 May 2018, the European Commission adopted its proposals for a new 
Multiannual  Financial  Framework  (MFF)  for  2021-2027.  The  Commission  decided  to  have  a 
self-standing Creative Europe programme and to create a Justice, Rights and Values Fund with 
two  underlying  funding  programmes:  the  Justice  programme  and  the  Rights  and  Values 
programme.  The  impact  assessment  remains  valid  in  underpinning  all  these  initiatives.  Under 
these proposals, over this period, the Justice and the Rights and Values programmes will have a 
budget  of  EUR  947  million  while  the  Creative  Europe  Programme  will  have  a  budget  of  EUR 
1,850 million.  
.  

"Our  values  are  our  compass.  For  me,  Europe  is  more  than  just  a  single  market.  More  than 
money, more than a currency, more than the euro. It has always been about values." - President 
Juncker, State of the Union speech, September 2017 

"Values  cannot  be  imposed,  they  must  be  passed  on  and  embraced  across  generations  and 
communities, and  we need to find  concrete  ways to  achieve this".  - FVP  F.  Timmermans, June 
2016 

The  European  Union  is  a  community  of  law  and  its  values  constitute  the  very  basis  of  its 
existence1.  EU  values  are  enshrined  in  the  EU  Treaty  of  the  EU  which  in  art  2  states  that  "the 
Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom democracy, equality, the 
rule  of  law  and  the  respect  for  human  rights,  including  the  rights  of  the  persons  belonging  to 
minorities.  These  values  are  common  to  the  Member  States  in  a  society  where  pluralism,  non-
discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail". Art 3 
further  specifies  that  the  "Union's  aim is  to  promote  peace,  its  values  and  the  well-being  of  its 
people"  and,  among  others,  "it  shall  respect  its  rich  cultural  and  linguistic  diversity,  and  shall 
ensure  that  Europe's  cultural  heritage  is  safeguarded  and  enhanced".  Along  these  lines,  the 
Commission's reflection paper on the future of EU finances states that "the EU budget supports 
this aim, working  together with national budgets and  complementing  other efforts at European 
and  national  level".  EU  finances  can  provide  value  added  in  upholding  common  European 
values,  such  as  democracy,  freedom,  the  rule  of  law,  fundamental  rights,  equality,  solidarity, 
sustainability and peace. Learning and exchanging on cultures of different Member States is also 
highlighted as being a key factor to build bonds across Europe. European values such as peace, 
democracy, rule of law, are indicated as key criteria to identify the added value that justify EU 
level financing  in the same way as of Treaty objectives and obligations or public goods with a 
European dimension.  

The  importance  of  achieving  a  Union  that  caters  for  the  cultural  and  social  development  of  its 
citizens has been further underlined in spring 2017, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the 
signature of the Treaty of Rome by the leaders of 27 Member States and of the EU institutions. 
This objective was restated at the Gothenborg Summit in November 2017, which concluded that 

4 

 
 
 
it  is  "in  the  shared  interest  of  all  Member  States  to  harness  the  full  potential  of  education  and 
culture  as  drivers  for  jobs,  social  fairness,  active  citizenship  as  well  as  a  means  to  experience 
European  identity  in  all  its  diversity".  In  particular,  the  Commission  announced  that  it  would 
strengthen the Creative and Cultural Sectors Guarantee Facility and  that it would  also launch  a 
#Digital4Culture  strategy  to  help  increase  access  of  citizens  to  culture  by  exploiting  digital 
technologies.  The  European  Pillar  of  Social  Rights,  jointly  proclaimed  by  the  European 
Parliament,  the  Council  and  the  Commission  on  17  November  2017,  reflects  the  unanimous 
support by all EU institutions and the Member States on the principles and rights of the Pillar, 
including  gender  equality,  equal  opportunities,  support  to  children  or  inclusion  of  people  with 
disabilities.  In  addition,  the  European  institutions  have  stressed  in  a  number  of  occasions  the 
importance to develop and support the policies covered by the EU values framework as indicated 
in annex 6. 

In line with the reflection paper, this IA takes a fresh look at a number of funding programmes 
and  budget  lines  which  have  in  common  the  fact  of  providing  an  important  contribution  to 
upholding EU values through the support of rights, equality, citizenship, cultural diversity and the 
creativity  sector.  The  aim  is  to  simplify  and  streamline  funding,  to  develop  synergies  among 
current programmes - including in the citizenship area which has been identified as clear case for 
merging - to ensure clear focus on European added value and to reach a critical mass of funding 
to promote and protect EU common values and to deliver tangible results to the EU citizens. In 
doing  so,  the  funding  dedicated  to  values  will  also  reinforce  the  EU  role  as  a  champion  in  the 
promotion  and  protection  of  values  and  rights  at  global  level.  In  this  respect,  it  will  contribute 
directly  to  the  achievement  of  the  global  Sustainable  Development  Goals  (SDGs),  with  direct 
linkages to SDG 4 on quality education, SDG 5 on gender equality, SDG 8 on decent work and 
economic  growth,  SDG  10  on  reduced  inequalities,  SDG  16  on  Peace,  Justice  and  Strong 
Institutions. It will also contribute to enhance a rights based-approach to policies making which 
the EU is promoting across the globe.  

In the light of the above political reflections and guidance, this impact assessment analyses the 
feasibility of creating a EU Values framework putting together four current funding programmes 
- Rights, Equality and Citizenship; Europe for Citizens; Creative Europe and Justice – as well as 
two prerogative lines and actions in the media sector. It will accompany the legislative proposals 
in this area for the EU budget after 2020. This impact assessment satisfies the requirements of the 
Financial  Regulation  in  respect  of  preparing  an  ex-ante  evaluation,  bearing  in  mind  that  the 
magnitude of the future funding to be devoted to the future Values framework was not known at 
the time of its submission to the Regulatory Scrutiny Board. 

1.1. 

Scope and context 

The European Union is based on a community of values shared by all its citizens, and rooted in 
Europe's history, democratic principles and identity, enshrined in the EU Treaty, the EU Charter 
of Fundamental Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the 
UNESCO convention on the protection of the Diversity of cultural expressions, which is part of 
the acquis communautaire. Those values encompass non-discrimination and equality, anti-racism 
and  tolerance,  rule  of  law  and  independence  of  the  judiciary.  They  also  encompass  cultural 
diversity, freedom of expression, including media freedom, pluralism, and citizens' participation 
as well as artistic freedom2. Our creations forming our common cultural heritage and cultural and 
linguistic diversity at all levels (national, regional, local) reflect and highlight the importance of 
artistic and creative freedom in Europe and make an important contribution to the fight against all 

5 

 
forms of discrimination including racism and xenophobia and are at the heart of the EU project 
and  of  the  EU  identity  There  is  now  evidence  that  when  people  have  wide  access  to  culture 
(physically  or  through  digital  means)  and  are  actively  engaged  in  cultural  activities,  they  are 
more  likely  to  understand  and  adopt  shared  common  values.  In  order  to  be  able  to  play  this 
inclusive role for Europe's society at large, the cultural and creative sectors need to be robust and 
competitive  and  artistic  creations  and  cultural  contents  are  to  be  circulated  within  Europe  and 
beyond.  Therefore,  the  preservation  of  cultural  values  and  diversity  requires  strengthening  the 
growth  potential  and  competitiveness  of  Europe's  cultural  and  creative  sectors  to  ensure  their 
capacity to reach citizens from across the EU, notably in the context of an increasingly integrated 
Digital Single Market. 

To  promote  common  European  values,  rights,  culture,  creativity  and  identity,  the  EU  has  used 
several instruments combined in a policy mix: the funding programmes under examination in this 
Impact  Assessment  are  one  of  those  instruments,  together  with  legislation  and  policy 
development and implementation. In the current financial perspective 2014-2020 EU-funding in 
this area is provided through the programmes and individual budget lines (hereafter the "existing 
programmes") summarised in the following table: 

Table 1: Main characteristics of the current programmes 

Programme/prerogative 
line(*) 
Rights, Equality and 
Citizenship Programme 
(REC) 

Legal basis 

Art 19(2), 
21(2), 114, 
168, 169, 197 

Europe for Citizens 
Programme 

Creative Europe Programme, 
(MEDIA Sub-programme, 
Culture Sub-programme and 
cross sectoral strand) 

Content  
 (a detailed description of these instruments can be found in annex 4) 
The  REC  promotes  and  protects  rights,  non-discrimination  and 
equality and empowers people so that they can enjoy in the Union the 
rights  conferred  on  them  by  the  EU  Treaty,  the  EU  Charter  of 
Fundamental Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons 
with Disabilities. 
The Europe for Citizens Programme increases participation in the 
European  process  in  a  bottom-up  participatory  approach  also 
including remembrance and historical awareness. 

Art 166(4), the 
first ident of art 
167(5) and art 
173(3) 

Creative  Europe  aims  at  fostering  the  access  of  EU  citizens  to 
cultural  and  creative  (including  audiovisual)  content, 
thereby 
promoting European cultural diversity and Europe's cultural heritage 
while also strengthening the competitiveness of the European cultural 
and creative sectors. 

Justice Programme 

81(1), 82(1) 

The  Justice  Programme  endeavours  to  create  an  area  of  freedom, 
security  and  justice,  supporting  judicial  cooperation,  the  rule  of  law 
and  fundamental  rights  and  a  well-functioning  independent  judicial 
system. 

Prerogative line 
"Communication and 
evaluation activities that are 
contributing to an area of 
justice and fundamental 
rights" 

Prerogative line 090205: 
''Measures concerning the 
digital content, and 
audiovisual and other media 
industries'' 

Prerogative line 

Information,  communication  and  evaluation  activities  linked  to  the 
Charter  of  Fundamental  Right,  consular  protection  and  the  dialogue 
pursuant to Article 17TFEU are financed through a prerogative line. 

Prerogative line 

Prerogative line covers activities related to audiovisual policy and the 
implementation  of 
the  Audiovisual  Media  Services  Directive 
(hereafter AVMSD), Support to media freedom and pluralism, quality 
journalism and media literacy is also provided through pilot schemes. 

(*) It should be noted that the multimedia actions line is not covered pending decision on its future by the 
political level. 

Figure 1: Total financial 2014-2020 envelope for the current programmes 

6 

 
 
In  an  EU-institutional  framework  largely  based  on  subsidiarity,  existing  funding  programmes 
(2014-2020)  have  demonstrated  their  European  added  value.  As  evidenced  by  the  recent  mid-
term  evaluations,  this  European  approach  through  financing  co-operation  projects  and  cross-
border  initiatives  is  hardly  ever  supported  outside  EU  funding  programmes.  There  is  scope  to 
further  increase  this  added  value  by  bringing  several  of  those  instruments  under  a  single 
framework  whose  focus  should  be  the  promotion  and  protection  of  values.  In  addition  to  the 
political guidance described above, the creation of a EU values framework in the EU budget is 
justified also on the following grounds: 

  All  the  programmes  and  actions  that  are  candidates  to  be  part  of  the  EU  values  framework 
have a strong societal focus and are clearly related to European values. By supporting rights, 
values,  justice,  culture,  artistic  and  creative  freedom,  the  EU  exchanges  meaningful  and 
relevant messages with  European citizens, thus contributing to European social well-being. 

  At the same time, the programmes have also a positive impact on the economy by supporting 
for instance gender equality and anti-discrimination policies and promoting equal access to the 
labour market for all, or by supporting creation, promotion and circulation of cultural goods 
and access to cultural services as well as the competitiveness of Europe's cultural and creative 
industries.  

  They have helped shape a common European identity by supporting societal policies, which 

underpin and further strengthen economic and market values and policies of the EU. 

  They lend themselves to the integration into a single framework as they all deal with values 

and citizenship issues leading to a more coordinated approach in this field. 

  They  have  not  yet  achieved  their  current  objectives,  which  are  still  relevant  and  closely 

interlinked to each other. 

  They are small instruments, which have not yet reached critical mass and whose effectiveness 
is constrained by their  relatively low  budgets. Therefore, their joining under one framework 
would help increase their effectiveness through synergies and mutual reinforcement. 

7 

REC ; 439,473Europe for Citizens; 187,468Creative Europe; 1462,724Prerogative line 090205; 7,581Prerogative line communication activities on fundamental rights; 5,3Justice; 377,604Total financial enveloppe 2014-2020 in million € 
 
Some examples of initiatives financed by the current programmes : 

A  social  media  campaign  "#SayNoStopVAW"  has  been  funded  by  the  REC  programme  to 
raise  awareness  and  take  a  clear  stand  against  violence  against  women.  The  campaign’s 
dedicated  website  includes  testimonials  from  funded  projects,  information  material  and 
contacts to national support services. Through the campaign, the Commission reaches out to 
target groups and stakeholders both directly and through social media promotion. 

The European Disability Card helps people with disabilities to travel more easily between EU 
countries,  by  putting  in  place  a  system  of  mutual  recognition  of  disability  status.  The  Card 
ensures  an  equal  access  to  certain  specific  benefits,  mainly  in  the  areas  of  culture,  leisure, 
sport  and  transport.  By  piloting  this  Card  since  2016,  the  REC  programme  concretely 
contributed to a more equal and inclusive European Union. 

The Crocus Project funded several times under the Europe for Citizens programme is an Irish 
initiative whereby the Holocaust Educational Trust Ireland provides yellow Crocus bulbs for 
school pupils aged 11 years and older to plant in memory of the 1.5 million Jewish children 
who  perished  in  the  Holocaust  and  thousands  of  other  children  who  were  victims  of  Nazi 
atrocities. The Crocus Project is a tangible way to introduce young people to the subject of the 
Holocaust and to raise awareness about the dangers of racism, discrimination, prejudice and 
hatred. The children’s involvement in learning about the Holocaust, in planting the bulbs and 
watching  the  flowers  grow,  encourages  ongoing  learning  about  the  importance  of  tolerance 
and  respect.  The  Crocus  blooms  around  the  end  of  January  about  the  time  of  international 
Holocaust  Memorial  Day  (27  January).  When  people  admire  the  flowers,  the  pupils  explain 
what they represent and recall the children who perished in the Holocaust. 

The  project  called  "Networked  Culture  in  the  Post-Digital  Age"  was  funded  by  creative 
Europe to investigate the relationships between digital culture, networked social and political 
organisation and new business models through a series of artistic and discursive activities. The 
project involved five European partner organisations in the delivery of festivals, exhibitions, 
commissions  of  new  artworks  as  well  as  lectures,  debates,  workshops,  conferences  and  the 
production  of  collateral  assets  including  books,  digital  publications,  videos,  a  website  and 
social media platforms3. Website: http://mastersandservers.org. 

By  co-funding  Europa  Cinemas,  MEDIA  helps  increasing  the  audiences  of  films  and 
empowers cinemas to innovate and attract younger audiences. QUAI10, a member of Europa 
Cinemas,  is  a  unique  place  in  Belgium,  bringing  together  cinema  and  gaming.  In  2016, 
QUAI10 reached 43,961 visitors across 1,829 screenings while the gaming area is welcoming 
around 300 people every week. 

1.2. 

Lessons learned from previous programmes 

Thanks to the implementation of EU legislation, policy measures and funding, some progress is 
visible in the promotion and protection of rights and values. Examples are increased awareness 
among  people  about  their  rights,  their  common  history,  increased  female  employment  rate, 
promotion  and  protection  of  the  rights  of  the  children,  enhanced  democratic  and  civic 
participation  of  citizens  at  Union  level  but  also  a  deeper  understanding  of  and  respect  for 
different cultures, traditions and artistic expressions.  

8 

 
As a result of EU legislation people can rely on a set of rights all across the EU and can count on 
an independent and effective justice system and the respect of the rule of law. On numerous past 
occasions,  the  European  Parliament  showed  its  firm  commitment  to  combat  violence  against 
women and children through a strong and well-funded DAPHNE programme/objective and to the 
other objectives covered by the REC Programme (such as gender equality, LGBTI and others)4. 
By becoming a party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of persons with Disabilities 
(UNCRPD)  in  2011,  the  EU  committed  to  promoting  and  protecting  the  rights  of  persons  with 
disabilities5. 

Collaborative  cultural  projects  have  helped  to  reinforce  mutual  understanding  and  tolerance 
through their potential of reaching out European citizens across national borders. Support to the 
culture  and  creative  sectors  has  helped  them  to  become  well  established  in  the  economic  and 
policy contexts as important assets in strengthening Europe’s economic structure, maintaining its 
competitiveness in the global economy – in particular in the field of audiovisual – reinforcing the 
mutual  understanding  among  people  from  different  cultural  backgrounds,  preventing 
radicalization and safeguarding of EU values.  

In preparation of the proposals for the new generation of funding programmes the results of the 
current  and  predecessor  programmes  were  evaluated.  The  mid-term  evaluation  of  the  Creative 
Europe  and Europe  for  Citizens  programmes  are  available  in  their  final  version  while  the  mid-
term  evaluation  of  the  REC  and  Justice  programmes  will  be  available  by  end  of  June  2018. 
Nevertheless,  the  external  evaluation  should  be  available  by  end  of  May  2018.  The  mid-term 
evaluation  of  creative  Europe  programme  covers  the  implementation  of  the  Creative  Europe 
programme,  its  predecessor  programmes  and  all  their  sub-programmes.  Key  stakeholders  have 
also been consulted (details available in the annex 2).  

The  following  analysis  is  based  on  these  evaluations  and  consultations  unless  differently 
indicated. 

All the evaluated programmes have shown clear EU added value and evaluations show that they 
are still relevant in the current and post-2020 scenarios.  

In particular, the REC programme has shown a high added value as in absence of EU funding the 
projects  carried  out  would  not  have  taken  place,  due  to  lack  of  resources  at  national  level. 
Interventions  funded  are  seen  as  generating  better  results  and  more  benefits  than  those  funded 
through  national/local  interventions,  mainly  because  their  transnational  dimension,  the  higher 
flexibility, and their higher quality and innovation as compared to projects funded at the national 
level.  

The  Europe  for  Citizens  Programme  has  demonstrated  its  added  value  at  EU  level  both  in  its 
impact on participants and its role as a complement to other EU funding programmes and policy 
initiatives in the field of education, culture and EU citizenship. Activities such as remembrance 
activities, town-twinning or pan-European networks are intended to broaden perspectives and to 
develop a sense of European belonging and European identity. 

The  experience  of  the  Creative  Europe  Programme  and  the  findings  of  its  mid-term  evaluation 
confirm the necessity to continue providing European added value by supporting the cross-border 
collaboration  and  partnerships  between  European  cultural  and  creative  operators  and  the 
circulation  of  works.  Support  at  the  European  level  adds  value  through  economies  of  scale, 
sustainability,  and  synergies  that  cannot  be  replicated  through  the  national,  regional  or  local 
levels. 

The  evaluations  also  analysed  factors  that  hindered  the  possibility  for  the  programmes  to  be 
effective and efficient to their full extent and identified areas for improvement and simplification. 

9 

 
While  details  on  specific  evaluations  are  available  in  annex  3,  in  the  following  sections,  the 
lessons learned from previous programmes are grouped in four main categories according to their 
possible impacts on respectively:  

  strategies and priorities  

  possible synergies  

  delivery mechanisms  

  monitoring  

1.2.1.  Lessons learned on strategies and priorities  

The problems and drivers underlying their general and specific objectives are still relevant. The 
intervention  strategies  of  the  Programmes  are  still  adequate  to  achieving  the  desired  objectives 
and  still  relevant  to  the  needs  of  the  beneficiaries.  However  some  new  priorities  emerged  and 
improvement could be made in specific areas of the programmes. In particular:  

  Within  the  Specific  Objectives  of  the  REC  programme  “Prevent  and  Combat  all  Forms  of 
Violence”,  there  is  room  for  enhancing  the  focus  on  emerging  needs  such  as  e-violence. 
Setting the specific objectives at the level of the policy field (i.e. promoting gender equality, 
anti-discrimination  etc.)  as  well  as  the  architecture  of  the  programme  has  increased  the 
flexibility  of  the  programme  to  focus  on  specific  priorities  and  re-adjust  actions  to  adapt  to 
emerging issues during the implementation.  

  Creative Europe has contributed to delivering the EU policy agenda, stimulating investment 
and  job  creation  (3000  jobs  created  over  2014-16)  and  deepening  the  internal  market 
especially through greater circulation  of creative content  (400 films circulated  per  year) and 
most  supported  activities  would  have  been  significantly  reduced  without  Creative  Europe 
support6. Yet  the  mid-term evaluation shows that these results could  have been  much larger 
with more funding. As an example, during the period 2014-2017 only 13, 96% of the projects 
submitted  under  the  cooperative  strand  were  funded.  Indeed,  success  rates  have  dropped, 
meaning that many good projects cannot be funded7. Furthermore, a more flexible definition 
of  support  actions  would  also  enable  the  programme  to  support  innovative,  cross-cutting 
content not only in terms of technology (e.g. virtual reality, transmedia, web-series) but also in 
terms  of  social  and  artistic  innovation  (e.g.  grass-root  events,  cooperation  between 
organizations  from  various  sectors)  as  well  as  new  business  models  e.g.  online  first  release 
strategies.  Feedback  from  stakeholders  calls  more  for  an  evolution  than  a  revolution  on  the 
architecture  of  the  future  programme8.  This  finding  was  supported  by  the  report  on  the 
Creative Europe issued by the European Parliament in 20169 

  The  MEDIA  sub-programme  has  grown  in  scope  over  the  years  without  an  equivalent 
increase in budget. Thus the funding is spread too thinly across many priorities, weakening its 
potential  impact.  In  2017,  a  budget  of  approx.  €110  million  was  distributed  to  over  2000 
projects.  The sub-programme is also fragmented as it is structured around 14 schemes which 
target  specific  parts  of  the  industry’s  value  chain.  Collaboration  across  silos  and  across 
borders could be encouraged more, in particular to develop stronger pan-European distribution 
strategies10 and visibility of European works in Europe and abroad. European VOD services 
need  to  scale  up  at  European  level,  as  they  currently  operate  only  at  national  or  regional 
level11. In its 2016 study on MEDIA12, the European Parliament concluded that MEDIA was 
effective so far but was hampered by its limited budget. 

10 

 
  The  Creative  Europe's  Culture  sub-programme  has  also  grown  in  scope  over  the  years 
without an equivalent increase in budget whereas there is increased awareness and evidence of 
the contribution of the cultural and creative sectors to society and the economy (two thirds of 
the  respondents  to  an  open  public  consultation  launched  during  the  mid-term  evaluation  of 
Creative Europe Programme believed that the results of the Culture Sub-programme could not 
have  been  achieved  using  less  funding  )..  It  also  appears  that  with  its  strong  focus  on  co-
operation  and  partnership,  the  sub-programme  does  not  cover  the  needs  of  some  essential 
cultural and creative industries such as the music sector, the book sector or architecture which 
need intervention at specific points of the value chain. Despite its openness to participation of 
organizations  from  third  countries,  activities  outside  Europe  or  of  non-EU  nationals  in 
Creative Europe are currently limited which hampers the presence and visibility of European 
cultural  and  creative  contents  beyond  its  own  borders13.  Overall,  around  90%  of  the 
respondents  to  the  above-mentioned  public  consultation  believe  that  most  priorities  of  the 
Culture Sub-programme are still relevant or extremely relevant . Political priorities such as the 
People-to-People  Dialogue  with  China  or  deepening  relations  with  Japan  cannot  be 
implemented lacking an earmarked budget. 

  The  guarantee  facility  in  the  cross-sectorial  strand  of  Creative  Europe  responds  directly  to 
the  needs  of  cultural  and  creative  SMEs,  which  have  difficulties  accessing  loans  due  to  the 
intangible nature of their assets. The strong market response to its launch in 2016 shows the 
relevance  of  this  instrument  to  the  needs  of  the  market:  as  of  Q3  2017,  161  SMEs  received 
loans for a total value of € 32 million, for over 200 projects employing more than 900 people. 
A top-up of € 60 million, equivalent to 50% of the total budget, was provided already in 2017 
allowing a quicker deployment of guarantee support, reaching more countries and sectors and 
enhancing the geographic and sectoral balance. 

  In  some  areas  targeted  by  the  Justice  programme,  the  basin  of  potential  recipients  of  the 
actions could be expanded such as in the field of Judicial Training, where stakeholders from 
national administrative bodies and regulatory agencies could be included in a more systematic 
way. 

  Regarding  the  Europe  for  Citizens  programme,  the  evaluations  and  studies  of  the  past  10 
years  showed  that  the  programme  has  played  an  important  role  as  the  only  EU  programme 
targeting  citizens  directly  and  involving  them  through  a  bottom-up  approach.  In  its  March 
2017 report on the implementation of the Europe for Citizens programme (2014-2020)14, the 
European Parliament expressed its strong support for the programme, including a substantial 
budgetary increase. 

  The audiovisual prerogative lines and actions related to audiovisual  policy (e.g.,  on media 
freedom, quality journalism and media literacy) and the AVMSD implementation have been 
an  invaluable  tool  in  the  creation  of  values,  enhancing  a  more  participatory  citizenship  and 
better  democracies.  However  actions  in  this  area  have  relied  on  EP  support  through  pilot 
schemes. The lack of a structured access to funding is a clear barrier to deliver on emerging 
threats,  such  as  the  impact  of  disinformation  and  fake  news.  This  is  all  the  more  serious 
considering that  media initiatives could play a key role in supporting democracy across the 
EU.  

1.2.2.  Lessons learned on possible synergies 

As  indicated  in  the  Commission's  reflection  paper,  the  policy  field  of  citizenship  is  a  good 
candidate to develop synergies among current funding programmes.  

11 

 
The Europe for Citizens Programme has demonstrated its added value at EU level both in its 
impact on participants and its role as a complement to other EU funding programmes and policy 
initiatives in the field of education, culture and EU citizenship. Activities such as remembrance 
activities, town-twinning or pan-European networks are intended to broaden perspectives and to 
develop a sense of European belonging and European identity. Synergies with other relevant EU 
funding  programmes,  in  particular  those  analysed  in  this  Impact  Assessment,  could  be 
strengthened  through  reinforced  thematic  cooperation,  for  example  in  the  area  of  anti-racism, 
equality, cultural heritage, historical memory and cultural diversity where it would be possible to 
develop common activities, like for example peer learning or common stakeholder conferences. 
The  box  hereafter  provides  some  concrete  example  of  possible  synergies,  also  beyond  the 
citizenship area. 

An  analysis  carried  out  internally  by  the  Commission's  services  highlights  that  all  concerned 
programmes  deal  with  "citizenship  issues':  The  REC  addresses  the  issue  of  the  "Union 
citizenship"  in  the  sense  of  the  EU  treaty  (e.g.  free  movement,  participation  in  European  and 
local elections in the Member State of residence, consular protection, etc.); Europe for Citizens 
addresses  the  participatory  dimensions  of  citizenship,  giving  citizens  the  opportunity  to 
participate  in  the  building  of  the  European  Union  in  a  bottom-up  approach.  The  Culture  sub 
programme  of  Creative  Europe  also  aims  at  bringing  EU  citizens  closer  together  and  at 
encouraging  their  empowerment  via  participation  and  engagement  in  cultural  and  creative 
activities.  In  some  occasions,  organisations  working  on  citizenship  issues  have  the  choice  to  
apply for similar calls for proposals and do so depending for instance on the more advantageous 
co-financing  rate.  In  some  EU  Member  States,  the  Europe  for  Citizens  Contact  Points  and  the 
Creative Europe Desks are hosted by the same organisation and cooperate on a regular basis.  

In all these respects, bringing together the current programmes will allow for rationalisation of 
activities and development of synergies.  

Synergies  should  also  stem  from  the  broader  scope  of  the  new  programme  as  compared  to  the 
current  individual  programmes.  In  that  respect,  the  interplay  between  the  promotion  of  values 
from  one  side  and  the  promotion  of  active  citizenship  or  cultural  diversity  and  media  contents 
from the other side, is expected to enlarge the possibilities of financing relevant activities and to 
reach  a  broader  public.  As  regards  town-twinning or  civil  society  projects  currently  funded  by 
Europe for Citizens, it would be possible to add new thematic dimensions linked for example to 
culture, children's rights or the equality between women and men. 

Synergies could be also reinforced in the area of valorization and dissemination of results. For 
example, websites of current programmes could be interlinked and the online database Valor so 
far  used  to  showcase  projects  funded  under  Creative  Europe,  MEDIA  and  Europe  for  Citizens 
could cover all programmes participating in the framework. 

The respondents to the open public consultation, with experience in one or more of the four EU 
Programmes, agree that "better coordination between different programmes/funds" is one of the 
main steps to be taken to simplify and reduce the administrative burdens for beneficiaries. 

1.2.3.  Lessons learned on delivery mechanisms 

Delivery  mechanisms  have  in  general  proved  adequate  to  pursue  the  objectives  of  the 
programmes.  In  particular,  the  streamlined  structure  of  the  Europe  for  Citizens  programme15 
and  the  introduction  of  multi-annual  thematic  priorities  have  allowed  for  a  more  focused 
approach.  The  application  and  reporting  process  have  considerably  been  simplified  through  the 

12 

 
 
use of lump  sums and the introduction of electronic application and reporting forms. However, 
comparing  the  different  experiences  of  the  current  programmes  evidences  significant  room  for 
improvement in some areas. 

As regards the REC and the Justice programmes:  

  The  duration  of  Operating  Grants  could  be  extended  to  cover  at  least  two  years  (instead  of 
one), in order to reduce the administrative burden – in terms of both applying and reporting – 
on beneficiaries and Commission services alike. 

  The introduction of standard unit costs, at least for some typologies of activities (e.g. training), 
could  significantly  reduce  administrative  and  accounting  duties  on  beneficiaries  and  on 
Commission services involved in management and control. 

As regards Creative Europe, the large volume of small grants has the advantage of supporting 
many  small  beneficiaries  and  activities.  However,  it  also  creates  high  administrative  costs  with 
time and effort focused on processing calls for proposals and transactions16. Less time is available 
for  collecting  data  on  the  programme,  monitoring  project  results  and  ensuring  visibility  of  EU 
support.  Therefore,  delivery  mechanisms  need  to  be  designed  to  streamline  support  and  group 
beneficiaries  while  keeping  an  open  door  to  the  participation  of  all  cultural  and  creative 
structures,  whatever  their  size.  Furthermore,  incentives  could  be  introduced  through  modalities 
which  reward  success  in  meeting  performance  criteria,  in  order  to  increase  the  focus  on  policy 
objectives17.  

Finally,  the  programme's  visibility  could  be  increased  in  particular  as  regards  Europe  for 
Citizens  and  the  Justice  programme.  In  this  last  one,  there  is  a  need  to  further  improve 
communication activities, also with a view to foster participation from organisations in Member 
States with relatively low participation rates. Dissemination could equally be enhanced through 
mutual collaboration between funded projects. 

1.2.4.  Lessons learned on monitoring 

The  revision  of  the  monitoring  indicators  has  been  identified  as  an  area  for  improvement  in 
particular for Europe for citizens, the REC and the Justice programmes. It seems particularly 
important to develop workable indicators allowing for precise monitoring of the quality and the 
impact of projects. 

The  system  of  indicators  for  the  REC  could  be  streamlined  and  strengthened  so  as  to 
meaningfully capture the expected results of the Programme. Data quality should be better taken 
in consideration as regards the Justice indicators. 

Regarding  Creative  Europe,  the  absence  of  performance  indicators  sufficiently  robust  and 
linked to the activities of the Programme has not allowed a systematic analysis and reporting of 
the  results  and  impacts18.  A  proposal  to  be  adopted  by  a  Delegated  Act  to  strengthen  the 
monitoring  framework  systems,  processes  and  indicators  for  the  current  Programme  during  the 
2nd quarter of 2018 is being prepared. 

2.  THE OBJECTIVES  

This chapter presents an analysis of the challenges currently faced by the EU in the Values area 
as  well  as  the  added  value  of  acting  at  EU  level.  Taking  into  account  the  current  funding 
programmes as baseline scenario, the drivers upon which the Commission can act to tackle those 

13 

 
challenges are then identified and regrouped according to the impact they might have on a) the 
priorities  and  architecture  of  the  future  programmes,  b)  the  delivery  mechanisms  and  c)  the 
monitoring system. On this basis, the objectives of the future funding will be defined as well as 
the architecture and priorities of the future programmes that will be further detailed in chapter 3.  

2.1. 

Challenges for the programmes of the next MFF  

2.1.1.  Common  policy  challenges:  the  added  value  of  EU-level  action  on  values 

and the subsidiarity principle 

Despite the progress achieved by the current programmes, several gaps persist in the concerned 
policy areas, while at the same time there are also new challenges that need to be tackled.  

The common challenges faced by the EU in the area of values are twofold:  

  Our vocation to build a strong internal market but at the same time also a community based on 
a  common  cultural  bond,  shared  values,  rights,  historical  and  cultural  heritage  and  people's 
involvement is hampered by the tendency to focus on our differences and not what unites us. 
Populist,  extremist  and  nationalist  movements  challenging  the  idea  of  our  open  inclusive, 
cohesive  and  democratic  society  where  cultural  participation  and  capability  based  on 
education allow for the building of a more resilient way of living together.  

  The fragmented nature and limited resources of EU current funding programmes dedicated to 
values, rights, citizenship, culture and media limits the capacity of the EU to respond to old 
and new challenges. This is particularly true in the context of the digital shift, which has had 
the effect of increasing even more the competition from US players in European audiovisual 
and  cultural  markets,  with  tangible  negative  effects  on  Europe's  cultural  diversity. 
Digitalisation  of  national  justice  systems,  civic  technology,  robotics,  registers  and  legal 
technology  also  imply  increased  needs  to  accompany  the  technological  developments  in 
national  administrations.  "Lack  of  budget  of  the  programmes  to  satisfy  demand"  has  been 
identified  by  the  respondents  to  the  public  consultation  as  the  main  obstacles  that  could 
prevent the current programmes from achieving their objectives. 

The  consequences  of  not  addressing  this  double  challenge  could  be  very  high  if  confidence  in 
European  institutions  and  values  is  eroded.  The  quality  of  our  democracy  would  be  weakened 
and  there  are  already  alarming  signals,  knowing  for  example  that  today  only  half  of  young 
Europeans regard democracy as the best form of government. Discrimination may be amplified 
by  the  misuse  of  online  networks,  whilst  citizens  are  less  confident  in  exercising  their  rights19. 
Public  opinion  could  become  increasingly  inward  looking  and  locked  into  national  media  and 
cultural  "bubbles"  under  deteriorating  indicators  of  media  freedom  and  pluralism.  This  would 
also affect negatively the development of a sense of European cultural identity. Europe's image 
on the world stage would also be weakened, at a time when other global players are building up 
their soft power through culture. 

Although most of the challenges and problems are common to all areas covered, hereafter they 
are grouped according to their predominant factors: 

European  values  are  insufficiently  shared  and  rights  are  still  not  fully  enjoyed  by  people.  In 
particular: 

14 

 
  The European values on which the EU political (collective) and citizens' identity is based are 
still not perceived by EU citizens as being the basis of EU project: as an example, for three 
out  of  four  young  Europeans,  the  reason  behind  the  EU  is  not  shared  values,  but  rather 
economic  cooperation.20.  According  to  the  respondents  of  the  open  public  consultation, 
"Promote European identity and common values" as well as "promote rights and equality" are 
important common policy challenges (being one of the four first challenges mentioned) to be 
addressed in each of the four programmes. 

  The  rights  stemming  from  the  EU  citizenship  -  on  free  movement,  consular  protection  and 
electoral  rights21  –  are  still  not  fully  known22  and  implemented,  thus  hindering  citizens' 
political and societal participation23. 

  The access and understanding by EU citizens of truly European cultural forms of expression, 
transmitting EU values, is being challenged by the overwhelming presence of non-European, 
in particular US, cultural goods and services in many EU countries. 

  The  opportunities  provided  by  new  forms  of  communication  to  receive,  consume,  share 
information and engage in social and civic life are not sufficiently exploited. In addition, these 
opportunities  are  also  accompanied  by  threats  such  as  digital  exclusion,  decreasing  trust  in 
media,  the  propagation  of  fake  news,  the  misuse  of  personal  data,  hate  speech,  decreasing 
media literacy and the manipulation of information networks. 

  As  a  result  of  economic  crises,  growing  inequalities  and  perceived  threats  of  migrations, 
nationalism, populism, Euro-scepticism and intolerance gained a ground to advocate exclusion 
and isolationism as the only way to overcome the current challenges. Fundamental rights and 
the values on which the European Union is founded are put to the test and in some cases the 
rule of law, access to justice, space for civil society and the independence of the judiciary and 
media freedom are challenged, putting into question the same concept of democracy. Citizens' 
sense of belonging to and engagement in the EU project are also undermined.  

  Data show that discrimination against LGBTI people24, Roma25,, persons with disabilities26, 
elderly  people  or,  on  the  ground  of  religion,27  as  well  as  violence  against  women28  and 
children,  in  the  society  and  in  the  labour  market,  still  persist;  racism,  xenophobia  and  hate 
speech are often amplified by the use of social network and new technologies; sensitive social 
and societal issues related to religion and beliefs are rising up in parallel. Significant gender 
inequalities persist29.  

A common judicial space still needs to be built. In particular: 

  Judicial  cooperation  and  law  enforcement  in  civil  and  criminal  matters  is  insufficient  and 
access  to  justice  across  Member  States  is  still  difficult.  Tools  for  collecting  comparative 
information about the quality, independence and efficiency of Member States justice systems 
need  to  be  improved.  A  main  obstacle  to  mutual  recognition  and  judicial  cooperation  is  the 
lack of trust in the judicial systems of other Member States30. 

Europe's cultural diversity depends on resilient and robust cultural and creative sectors. However 
those sectors, notably the audiovisual31 or music sector, are facing a number of challenges, as a 
result of the increased competition from global players and the digital shift. In particular:  

15 

 
  European  cultural  diversity  and  richness  and  the  sustainability  of  the  Culture  and  Creative 
Sectors (CCS) are challenged by digitization and globalization and their powerful impact on 
the way artists produce and distribute their works and relate to their audiences. The collapse of 
DVD markets, new consumer expectations and the continued power of US studios32 together 
with the rise of global digital giants like Amazon, Itunes, Google and Netflix have impacted 
the traditional value chain. Producers, distributors, broadcasters, cinema theatres and all types 
of cultural organizations need to innovate in order to attract new generations of audiences33.  

  The  quality  of  Europe's  audiovisual  industry  is  internationally  recognized  but  it  is  not 

competitive enough within the Digital Single Market.  

  The  EU  produces  over  1700  films  per  year  against  800  for  the  US  as  well  as  over  900  TV 
fiction  titles  per  year  (over  400  for  US).  However,  the  EU  does  not  make  the  most  of  this 
production  volume,  due  to  the  lack  of  international  distribution.  In  cinema  and  theatres  EU 
films are released on average in 2.6 countries vs. 9.7 countries for US films. In TVOD, EU 
films  are  released  on  average  in  2.8  countries  vs.  6.8  countries  for  US  films.  In  particular, 
VOD  is  growing  fast.  However,  the  share  of  EU  films  on  TVOD  (19%)  is  lower  than  in 
cinemas  (31%)  whilst  only  47%  of  EU  films  released  in  cinemas  make  it  to  VOD.  The 
average audience share of non-national European films in cinemas remains at 7% also due to a 
lack  of  resources  to  promote  films.  On  average,  marketing  expenses  represent  50%  of  the 
production  costs  of  US  films  against,  for  example,  10%  for  French  films.  To  bring  the 
marketing  of  EU  films  at  a  par  with  US  films,  €  1.6  bn,  based  on  a  limited  number  of 
countries  for  which  we  have  data  (DE,  DK,  FI,  FR,  GB,  IT,  NL,  SE,  SI)  would  be  needed.  
European  films  only  benefit  from  22%  of  promotion  spots  in  VOD.  Also,  only  20%  of 
European  films  are  co-productions  whereas  they  are  more  successful  than  national  films, 
generating  50%  of  cinema  attendance.  Also,  audiovisual  professionals,  in  particular  from 
lower capacity countries, need to strengthen their capacity to operate at the European level34. 

   In  the  audiovisual  field,  the  AVMSD  is  being  adapted  to  ensure  a  level  playing  field.  The 
new AVMS Directive will set-up an objective of 30% of European works available on VOD. 
This  will  be  an  opportunity  for  European  works,  but  accompanying  measures  are  needed  to 
help make European non-national works available, specifically in low producing countries.  

The policy challenges identified in the previous sections are common to all EU Member States 
and have cross-border dimensions. Indeed, while action at national level is important, the single 
Member States do not have enough leverage to tackle these challenges. In that respect action at 
EU level is needed following the subsidiarity principle, which is analysed in the next table.  

Subsidiarity and added value 

In a time of strain, we must return to the rational and realistic tenets on which Europe was first 
constructed,  while  providing  people  opportunities  to  participate  directly  in  EU  activities. 
Cultural  participation  is  a  vital  element  to  contribute  to  understanding  each  other  across 
borders.  This  leads  to  a  solid  common  framework  of  justice  and  fundamental  rights,  where 
democratic  standards  are  protected,  cultural  links  are  fostered  and  citizens'  participation  is 
enhanced. These values can provide a compelling basis for communal identity, even in a time of 
vulnerability  and  struggling  economies.  Indeed,  the  respect  of  rights  and  values,  the  shared 
cultural engagement, the common historical inheritance, and the fraternization of peoples have 
been steadfast qualities of the European ideal that have impacted positively on the everyday lives 
of the European man and woman. Focusing EU funds and policies and re-centering our actions 
on  these  values  will  allow  strengthening  a  European  identity  and  a  concept  of  European 

16 

 
belonging which can endure also among the young generation. This can only be achieved at EU 
level,  overcoming  individualistic  and  limited  national  approaches,  building  on  our  common 
history, on what unites us and on the rich diversity of the European society in order to reinforce 
our common values rather than departing from them. 

The creation of a European area of justice and rights, which is at the core of the promotion and 
transnational  cooperation  mechanisms  and  networking 
protection  of  Values,  requires 
opportunities, which can typically not be achieved by Member States acting alone.  

In many areas, such as equality and non-discrimination or citizenship, individuals are protected 
by  European  legislation,  but  are  not  sufficiently  aware  about  their  rights.  Only  awareness-
raising  actions, share of best practices and  training at EU level can ensure that persons in all 
Member  States  are  reached,  that  administrative  structures/authorities  are  informed  and  that  a 
consistent message is passed on. Moreover, Member States are not in the best position to ensure 
consistent interpretation and coherent application of legislative instruments throughout the EU. 

 In the area of rights, equality and in particular in combatting violence against women, there is 
EU-added value to work with national authorities and all stakeholders to find adequate solutions 
to remaining challenges at European level. EU funding is crucial to support civil society directly. 
In  addition,  EU  acquis  recognizes  the  role  of  NGOs  which  provide  much  of  the  support  for 
women victims of violence (shelters). The recognition of the pivotal role of NGOs is also part of 
the  Istanbul  Convention  on  combating  and  preventing  violence  against  women  and  domestic 
violence which was recently signed by the EU35. 

In the area of justice, the key principles of mutual trust and mutual recognition of judicial and 
extra-judicial  decisions can  be supported  more efficiently by action at EU level. In the area  of 
data protection, the lack of a consistent enforcement of EU rules and of cooperation mechanisms 
between Member States can only be addressed satisfactorily by EU level action.  

When it comes to the audiovisual sector, with a combined budget over € 2 billion per year, film 
support schemes at national level, focus primarily on the financing of the production of European 
works.  EU  support  intervenes  on  actions  upstream  (training,  development)  and  downstream 
(distribution,  promotion,  exhibition)  with  the  exception  of  TV  coproductions  in  order  to  ensure 
that  European  works  circulate  better  across  borders,  are  visible  and  thrive  in  all  distribution 
channels  including  online.  To  that  aim,  EU  support  accompanies  the  free  circulation  of 
audiovisual  media  services  enhanced  by  the  AVMSD  and  in  particular,  the  quota  of  European 
works in catalogues of VOD services.  
EU support becomes now even more critical in an increasingly digital, mobile, and social media 
environment with more intense competition from non EU players, which have a prevailing market 
position in the EU markets, to the detriment of traditional  broadcasting services, which puts at 
risk the financing, access and visibility of European independent productions. 

Support to the cross-border mobility of artists and the circulation of works is usually limited to 
bilateral or less systematic intervention at other governance levels and direct or indirect benefit 
at  the  respective  level  (i.e.  local,  regional  or  national)  dictates  the  existence  of  such  funding. 
Safeguarding and promoting European cultural diversity is a task to be tackled at the European 
level. As, in certain cases, this depends on the resilience of a specific creative sector (heritage, 
music, books), structuring and systemic support cannot be delivered by other levels.  

Finally  it  is  worth  to  highlight  that  around  80%  of  the  respondents  to  the  open  public 
consultation  agree  that  the  current  programmes  add  value  to  a  large  or  fairly  good  extent  to 
what Member States could achieve at national, regional and/or local levels 

2.1.2.  Challenges  in  terms  of  flexibility  and  simplification:  towards  a  new 

architecture, delivery mode and monitoring system of future programmes 

The EU can tackle the common challenges described in the section above by acting on different 
drivers  that  can  lead  to  the  redefinition  of  the  architecture  of  the  EU  values  framework  and  its 
underlying programmes, their priorities, their delivery modes, and their monitoring systems. This 

17 

 
is expected to improve synergies between current programmes, simplify them and increase their 
performance, coherence, efficiency and effectiveness. These elements are detailed hereafter. 

Drivers affecting the priorities and architecture of the future programmes 

  Available  mid-term  evaluations  confirmed  that  the  contents  of  current  funding  programmes 
are still highly relevant to respond to the needs they were designed to address and confirming 
the importance of their impact for the target groups. They confirmed the need for funding in 
the  respective  areas  and  acknowledged  that  the  funded  activities  contribute  towards  the 
achievement of the foreseen objectives. In terms of scope, some recommendations were made, 
but without putting in doubt the need for the continuation of funding36.  

  A critical mass of funds needs to be dedicated to the promotion of Values to make a difference 
in peoples' lives and close the funding gaps we currently have in many of the policies covered. 
Mid-term evaluation showed in particular that there is a lack of adequate funding to scale-up 
efforts  in  the  field  of  values  which  become  important  in  some  specific  areas,  such  as 
audiovisual37, culture38 or citizenship.  

  The  full  potential  of  culture  needs  to  be  exploited  as  drivers  for  jobs,  social  fairness,  active 
citizenship as well as a means to experience European identity in all its diversity in a context 
of rapid and profound changes induced by the technological revolution and globalization. 

  The  existence  of  several  small-scale  funding  programmes  and  prerogative  lines  and  actions 
managed  through  EP  preparatory  actions  in  this  area  does  not  support  flexibility  but  rather 
presents  a  fragmented  approach.  The  MEDIA  sub-programme  is  itself  fragmented  into  14 
separate  schemes  which  limits  flexibility  in  the  design  of  support  actions.  Each  programme 
focuses only on a specific policy area, setting small-scale scope for its activities. Horizontal 
and  cross-cutting  issues  cannot  be  addressed  in  a  comprehensive  way.  As  indicated  in 
previous sections, part of the activities funded by the current programmes, prerogative actions 
and  EP  preparatory  actions  would  benefit  from  being  more  coordinated  under  the  same 
intervention logic. 

  There is a lack of flexibility to respond to emerging opportunities and challenges, in particular 
those coming from the digital disruption of the audiovisual,  music and information industries, 
which has challenged existing distribution channels and led to an explosion of user generated 
content  and  new  audience  patterns39.  In  the  field  of  news  media,  guaranteeing  an  access  to 
quality content, including by countering the global impact of fake news, remains important. 

  The CCS,  in particular the audio-visual40 and music sectors, need  to scale up  in order to be 
competitive  at  European  level,  where  there  is  fierce  competition  from  global  players. 
Furthermore  it  is  still  a  challenge  for  cultural  and  creative  professionals  to  go  beyond  their 
national  or  linguistic  borders,  resulting  in  sub-optimal  circulation  of  cultural  works  and 
limited choice for citizens. 

  Access to finance remains a key constraint to the development of cultural and creative SMEs.  
Their  value  is  based  on  intangible  assets,  making  it  harder  for  financial  intermediaries  to 
assess risk and ensure collateral. The financing gap is estimated at € 7 billion for 2014-202041. 

Drivers affecting delivery mechanisms 

18 

 
  Potential  synergies  between  programmes  dealing  with  values,  rights,  culture,  creativity,  and 
audiovisual  have  not  been  exploited  also  leading  g  to  the  risk  of  overlaps.  We  currently 
observe a loss of potentially innovative projects of a more cross-sectoral nature as they do not 
fit  into  the  tight  frame  of  one  of  the  existing  programme.  This  is  the  case  for  instance  for 
projects  which  would  promote  new  forms  of  culture  at  the  crossroads  between  different 
creative sectors, through the use of digital means or project that support cross-over initiatives 
between culture and fundamental rights or audio-visual and non-discrimination policies (e.g. a 
slate  of  films  promoting  specifically  European  values),  "Facilitating  funding  for  actions 
cutting across the sectors of action" has been identified by the respondents to the open public 
consultation  as  one  of  the  main  steps  to  be  taken  to  simplify  and  reduce  the  administrative 
burdens for beneficiaries. Also, where the programmes overlap, notably on citizenship issues, 
beneficiaries can submit similar funding applications under several programmes or choose the 
programme  not  based  on  thematic  relevance,  but  on  the  average  success-rate  under  a  given 
programme. There is a certain degree of overlap of similar structures in different programmes 
(i.e. national contact points) 

  Insufficient  or  limited  scale  dissemination  and  use  of  the  results  and  outputs  of  the  funded 
activities do not allow for broader public awareness and enhanced complementarity of funded 
actions42.  

  Support  activities  for  media  freedom,  quality  journalism  and  media  literacy  which  are 
increasingly  relevant  in  the  context  of  the  growing  phenomenon  of  misinformation  (fake 
news) and its impact in political elections have been developed through isolated pilot schemes 
without a proper comprehensive strategy and are insufficient to close the gap between citizens 
and the institutions at large. 

  Low success rate in projects applications in certain areas such as Daphné, Creative Europe43 
or  Europe  for  Citizens  due  to  limited  resource  availability  generates  frustration  and 
demotivation among applicants.  

  Dilution of funds ('saupoudrage'): the funds, which are currently too modest, are often divided 
among  many  rather  small-scale  projects,  making  impossible  to  focus  on  (politically) 
interesting  initiatives  and  missing  steering  potential.  However,  small-scale  projects  (for 
example  town-twinning)  allow  to  reach  out  citizens  who  otherwise  would  not  participate  in 
European projects. A right balance needs to be found in this respect.  

  Complexity  of  funding  rules  represents  an  obstacle  for  applicants:  each  year  prospective 
applicants for a grant must keep track of high number of different calls for proposals and have 
to  work  through  different  priorities,  eligibility,  selection  and  award  criteria,  different 
supporting  documents  and  different  deadlines  for  submission.  In  the  same  vein  "the  use  of 
more simplified application forms", has been identified by the respondents to the open public 
consultation as the main step to be taken to simplify and reduce the administrative burdens for 
beneficiaries. 

Drivers affecting the monitoring system 

  More efforts are needed to monitor closely the outputs, results and impacts of the programmes 
and  to  make  the  monitoring  system  a  concrete  instrument  to  improve  the  effectiveness  of 
funded  measures.  The  Commission  services  together  with  the  Education  and  Culture 
Executive Agency where relevant, need to define a monitoring strategy to ensure the correct 

19 

 
delivery  of  the  outputs.  Furthermore  the  results  achieved  need  to  be  communicated  more 
regularly and transparently to stakeholders and citizens alike. 

2.2.  Objectives of the programmes of the next MFF 

The above section shows that  the objectives of the current funding programmes are still highly 
relevant to respond to the policy needs and that the objectives of current MFF programmes in this 
area are still not achieved although still valid. In that respect, the analysis done does not lead to a 
complete re-thinking of the objectives of the future funding programmes in this area, but rather to 
a re-focusing on areas of actions with a clear EU added value to respond to policy needs. 

2.2.1.  The aim of the initiative 

Promoting  and  defending  EU  values,  rights  and  cultures  has  profound  implications  for  the 
political, social, cultural, judicial and economic life of the Union and contributes to making the 
EU tangible in the people day-to-day lives. Therefore, sustained and reinforced action at EU level 
in  this  area  is  required  to  address  the  new  challenges  and  persisting  gaps  and  ensure  the 
promotion,  effective  protection  and  respect  of  rights  and  values:  this  will  also  contribute  to 
enhancing the internal market and build a more prosperous and more cohesive EU. Furthermore, 
it will allow the EU to fully play a key role in defending and promoting those values within the 
EU but also at global level, also contributing to the Sustainable development Goals.  

Therefore the overarching aim of the initiative is to create a EU values framework of the EU 
budget  in  order  to  sustain  open,  democratic,  culturally  capable,  inclusive  and  creative  societies 
and  empower  people  through  protecting  and  promoting  rights,  values,  European  cultural  and 
linguistic  diversity  and  heritage  -  as  enshrined  in  the  EU  Treaty,  in  the  EU  Charter  of 
Fundamental Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - through 
further  developing  an  EU  area  of  justice,  and  through  supporting  the  competitiveness  and 
sustainability of the Cultural and Creative Sectors. 

2.2.2.  The specific objectives of the future funding programmes  

In light of the general objective described above and taking into account of the analysis done in 
the previous sections, future funding will focus on areas of action which have clear  EU added 
value and are relevant to the policy needs. In particular, the proposed specific objectives of the 
future programmes are re-grouped under four main strands: empowering people, media, culture 
and Justice and are the following:  

EMPOWERING PEOPLE 

Empowering  people  through  the  promotion  and  protection  of  rights,  values  and  equality,  and 
through creating opportunities for citizens' engagement and participation, including by supporting 
civil society organisations. 

MEDIA 

Promoting the competitiveness and scalability of the European audiovisual industry and cultural 
diversity and artistic freedom as a EU  value through support to the creation, promotion, access 
and  dissemination  of  European  works  reaching  large  audiences  within  Europe  and  beyond 
thereby accompanying the AVMSD  

CULTURE 

20 

 
Safeguarding,  developing  and  promoting  European  cultural  diversity  and  Europe's  cultural 
heritage  and  strengthening  the  competitiveness  of  the  European  cultural  and  creative  sectors 
(with the exception of the audiovisual industry)   

JUSTICE 

  Facilitating  and  supporting  judicial  cooperation  in  civil  and  criminal  matters,  promoting  the 
rule of law by supporting the efforts to improve the effectiveness of national justice systems;  

  Supporting  and  promoting  judicial  training,  with  a  view  to  fostering  a  common  legal  and 

judicial culture; 

  Facilitating  effective  access  to  justice  for  all,  including  by  electronic  means,  by  promoting 
efficient civil procedures and by promoting and supporting the rights of victims of crime as 
well as the procedural rights of suspects and accused persons in criminal proceedings.  

The  intervention  logic  and  the  link  between  the  initiative  and  the  future  programmes  are 
summarised and visualised in the following diagrams. 

21 

 
Figure 2: Intervention logic 

22 

DriversCreate an EU values cluster of the EU budget that ProblemsAim of the clusterOverlap in annual priorities and beneficiaries of covered areasShortcomings in effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and EU added value holds back MFF funding to  address:Gaps identified in current MFF still persisting. Lack of common identity based on EU values and shared remembranceLowcitizens' societaland politicalparticipation and lackof knowledgeand implementationof EU rightsdeviredfromEU citizenshipRisksand missedopportunitiesof the digital revolutionOpen and democratic societies challenged by the rise of populism, racism, xenophobia and the non-respect of fundamental rights and EU valuesDiscrimination/lack of equality and violenceDifficultaccessto justice, lackof trust and  insufficientmutualrecognition, EU cooperationin the criminaland civil justice and insufficientlawenforcementEuropean cultural diversity, richnessand sustainabilityof CCS challengedby global non EU playersCCS not sufficientlycompetitivein digital single market, marketfragmentation and difficultcross border circulation of actorsand  workDisconnection with EU citizensSustain open, democratic, inclusive , culturally capable and creative societies and empower citizens through  protecting and promoting European rights, values, cultural and linguistic diversity and heritage as enshrined in the EU Treaty, in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and supporting the competitiveness and sustainability of cultural and creative sectors, in particular the audiovisualsector .Fragmented nature of programmesLack offlexibilitytorespondtoemergingneedsand topicalissuesLoss of potential innovative and cross sectoral projectsInsufficient/limitedscaledisseminationand use of projectsresultsInadequatemonitoringindicatorsLack ofadequatefundingPoor accesstofinanceforculturaland creativeSMEsObjectives of current MFF not achieved yet still valid Complexity of funding rulesOverlap in dissemination structure (national contact points / desks)Low success rate in some areas (Creative Europe/Daphné/Europe for Citizens) bringing to demotivationDilution of fundsUnbalanced geographical spreadLack ofcomprehensiveand coherentmonitoringThose drivers will be addressed in the priorities of the future programme in order to  focus funding on specific areas of action which have clear EU added value and are responsive to the policy needs Those drivers will be addressed in  the architecture and priorities of the funding programmes in to order to allow for flexibilityand rationalisationand is appropriate to provide support to the policies and their needsThose drivers will be addressed in the delivery mechanisms  and monitoring  of the future programme in order to  simplifyand improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the programmes 
 
23 

The EU values clusterThe future programme(s)Focus funding on specific areas of action which have clear EU added value and are responsive to the policy needs :to prevent and combat inequalities and discrimination on grounds of  sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation and support policies to promote equality between women and men, gender mainstreaming and anti-discrimination;to promote and protect the rights related to privacy and personal data and the rights of the child to contribute to citizens' understanding of the Union, its history, cultural heritage and diversity, to strengthen citizen's awareness of European remembrance and sense of belonging to the EU;To promote citizens' civic and democratic participation and access to an informed debate on EU policies, including by supporting media freedom and pluralism, quality journalism and media literacy, and to ensure citizens' rights deriving from citizenship of the Union, as essential pillars of EU democracies ;to prevent and combat all forms of violence against children, young people and women, as well as violence against other groups at risk Nurture skills and talent to foster the international competitiveness of the European audiovisualsector; Stimulatecollaboration,andinnovationinthecreationandproductionofEuropeanaudiovisualworks;EnhancetheatricalandonlinedistributionandprovidewideraccessacrossborderstoEuropeanaudiovisualworks,includingthroughinnovativebusinessmodels;PromoteEuropeanaudiovisualworksacrossEuropeandbeyond,andsupportaudiencedevelopment;Tostrengthenthecross-borderdimensionoftheEuropeancultureandcreativesector(CCS)withinEuropeandbeyond;Tocontributetoaudiencedevelopmentandsocialinclusionallowingformoreculturalparticipation;ToenhancetheCCS’capacitytoprosperandembracethedigitalshiftnamelybyaddressingspecificsectorialneeds.tofacilitateandsupportjudicialcooperationincivilandcriminalmatters;topromotetheruleoflawbysupportingtheeffortstoimprovetheeffectivenessofnationaljusticesystems,andsupportingEUjudicialnetworksactinginthisarea;tosupportandpromotejudicialtraining,includinglanguagetrainingonlegalterminology,withaviewtofosteringacommonlegalandjudicialculture;tofacilitateeffectiveaccesstojusticeforall,includingbyelectronicmeans,andbypromotingandsupportingtherightsofvictimsofcrimeaswellastheproceduralrightsofsuspectsandaccusedpersonsincriminalproceedingsEuropean Culture, Rightsand Values programmeStrandsJustice programme contribute to the further development of a European area of justice based on the rule of law, on mutual recognition and mutual trust EMPOWERING PEOPLE through the promotion and protection of rights, values and equality, and through creating opportunities for citizens' engagement and participation, including by supporting civil society organisations, MEDIA : Promoting the competitiveness and scalability of the European audiovisualindustry and cultural diversity and artistic freedom as a EU value through support to the creation, promotion, access and dissemination of European works reaching large audiences within Europe and beyond thereby accompanying the AVMSD CULTURE :Safeguarding, developing and promoting European cultural diversity and Europe's cultural heritage and strengthening the competitiveness of the European cultural and creative sectors (with the exception of the audiovisualindustry)Cross-sectoralstrands 
 
3.  PROGRAMME STRUCTURE AND PRIORITIES 

3.1.1.  Key features of the current funding programmes: the baseline scenario 

The  four  funding  programmes  and  the  prerogative  lines  are  implemented  via  centralised  direct 
management. 

As  regards  the  implementation  of  the  annual  work  programmes  of  the  REC  and  JUSTICE 
programmes,  three  types  of  actions  are  funded:  action  grants  and  operating  grants  mainly 
addressed to civil society organizations, legal practitioners, but also to Member States authorities 
through  restricted  calls  for  proposals;  it  also  funds  specific  actions  taken  by  the  Commission, 
such  as  studies,  surveys,  conferences,  specific  IT  projects,  awards  etc.  (Commission  initiatives 
through procurements), this latter weighting for around 20% of the total budget.   

The  Europe  for  Citizens  programme  awards  action  grants  and  operating  grants  mainly 
addressed to civil society organisations.  Approximately 20% of the budget has been devoted to 
"European  remembrance",  60%  to  "Democratic  engagement  and  civic  participation",  10%  to 
valorisation activities and around 10 % for administrative expenditure. The programme has also 
been used to support specific actions taken by the Commission in relation to the management and 
the promotion of the European Citizens' Initiative (IT support, communication, etc.). 

The financial envelope for the implementation of the Creative Europe Programme is allocated 
as  follows:  at  least  56  %  for  the  MEDIA  Sub-programme;  at  least  31  %  for  the  Culture  Sub-
programme; a maximum of 13 % for the Cross-sectoral Strand. 

The MEDIA sub-programme award action grants which support concrete audiovisual projects 
such  as  films  that  are  then  made  available  in  the  market.  Support  focuses  on  training,  content 
creation,  cross-border  distribution  of  works,  promotion  and  market  access.    The  main 
beneficiaries  are  audiovisual  professionals  and  SMEs,  consisting  of  independent  European 
producers and distributors; cinemas, online platforms and festivals focusing on European films; 
audiovisual  markets  and  promotion  networks.    In  the  period  2014-2017  the  programme  has 
awarded 7960 action grants. Grants account for 100% of the MEDIA sub-programme.  

The  Creative  Europe's  Culture  sub-programme  mostly  consists  in  action  grants  to  mainly 
public but also private cultural organizations and institutions such as theatres, museums, arts or 
music  venues,  heritage  sites  or  professional  networks.,  but  also  includes  prizes  (two  Melina 
Mercouri  prizes  for  the  two  European  Capitals  of  Culture  of  any  given  year),  Framework 
Partnership  Agreements,  one  operating  grant  (for  the  European  Union  Youth  Orchestra)  and 
service contracts.  

Within the cross-sectoral strand, the Cultural and Creative Sectors Guarantee Facility, which 
is a financial instrument, has a budget of € 121 million in the 2016-2020 period. A top-up of €60 
million from European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI) was agreed in 2017 and, given the 
strong market demand, the EFSI is preparing a second top up of at least the same amount. The 
original  budget  of  the  Guarantee  Facility  represents  8%  of  the  Creative  Europe  financial 
envelope. 

24 

 
 
 
Table 2: Statistics on the type of actions under the current programmes 

Number of calls 
launched each year 

Number of awarded  
action grants in the 
period  2014 -2017 
Number of awarded  
operating grants  in the 
period  2014 -2017 
Number of prizes in the 
period  2014 -2017 

REC* 

Europe for 
Citizens 

Creative 
Europe / 
MEDIA 

18 

302 

64 

1 -2 

13 

1371 

7960 

145 

0 

Creative 
Europe / 
CULTURE 

Minimum 2, 
but up to 10 

583 (including 
FPAs) 

2 

8 

Justice* 

9-14 

238 

34 

* the period reflected for the Justice and the REC programmes is 2014-2016 

The  assumption  under  the  baseline  scenario  is  that  the  above  key  features  and  budget 
related to the individual programmes will remain the same.  

In the following paragraphs, there is an estimation of the possible impact on the programmes of a 
possible reduction in the budget of approximatively 15%. In particular: 

A 15% reduction in funding for the REC and the JUSTICE programmes would be reflected in the 
number of annual calls for proposals and in the annual prioritisation, i.e. concentration of funding 
on fewer programme priorities in one year and promoting other priorities in the following years, 
in  contradiction  with  the  increasing  needs  in  the  field.  This  reduction  would  also  mean  the 
reduction  of  the  Commission's  activities  financed  through  procurements  such  as  studies,  data 
collection, awareness-raising campaigns etc., as priority would need to be given to continuity in 
any financial support in particular to key partners through grants. This reduction would also have 
a  negative  impact  on  the  possibility  to  fund  all  the  needed  trainings  of  the  judiciary  on  EU 
legislation, an activity with a clear EU added value.  

For Europe for Citizens, a budgetary cut of 15%, would cut the baseline budget down to €157 
million which is insufficient in the context of the Commission's commitment to put citizens in the 
centre of the European process. In case of a budgetary cut by 15%, it would have to be mirrored 
proportionally  in  all  strands  and  measures  of  the  programme.  Under  this  scenario,  the  critical 
mass of participants and the geographical coverage of activities necessary to achieve the intended 
impact  would  no  longer  be  reached.  A  stable  budgetary  envelope  (based  on  the  budget  2017) 
would allow continuity but still with a limited impact.  

A  decrease  of  15%  in  funding  for  the  MEDIA  sub-programme  of  Creative  Europe  will 
inevitably  require  streamlining  and  concentrating  on  a  limited  number  of  actions.  As  MEDIA 
includes  several  measures  to  positively  discriminate  in  favour  of  lower  production  countries 
and/or  countries  with  a  restricted  geographic/linguistic  area,  a  reduction  in  funding  would 
disproportionately impact those countries44. A reduction in the number of training activities (1800 
beneficiaries per year) would limit the possibilities of audio visual professionals to adapt to and 
benefit  from  the  opportunities  offered  by  the  digital  shift.  Cuts  on  the  development  and  TV 
production schemes would result in a reduced number of EU co-productions, which are the works 
that  travel  better  across  borders.  The  network  of  cinema  operators  represents  a  total  number  of 

25 

 
 
  
 
 
 
 
2806  cinema  screens  in  680  towns  in  43  countries  for  78.000.000  admissions  per  year:  a 
reduction in the scope of the network would negatively impact the access of EU citizens, notably 
from Central and Eastern European countries, to non-national European content. 

Regarding  Creative  Europe  (Culture  sub-programme),  a  decrease  of  15%  would  not  allow 
reaching a critical mass in response to the needs of the cultural and creative sectors. This would 
imply the following: 

  Reduced impact in European added value in terms of cultural diversity: less diverse and 
more homogenized cultural offer for EU citizens including from dominant non-European 
market  players,  fewer  cross-border  cooperation  and  new  market  opportunities  or  career 
possibilities for practitioners from the cultural and creative sectors;  

  Societal  impact  would  be  reduced:  e.g.  the  reach  of  the  culture  cooperation  projects 
estimated at 7 million citizens in EU by end 2020 (including 4 million youngsters) would 
decrease; 

  The  international  opening  of  the  programme  may  be  limited  at  its  pre-2014  level: 

participation of key EU neighboring partner countries may be abandoned; 

  Specific  actions  would  be  streamlined  or  abandoned  thus  limiting  the  programme's 

impact both in quantitative and qualitative terms; 

  Proportionally higher administrative costs for running the programme.  

3.1.2.  Alternative  to  the  baseline  scenario:  a  EU  values  framework  with  two 

funding programmes 

The analysis done in terms of drivers that affect the architecture of the future programmes, shows 
that there is room for improvement  from the current  situation of four funding programmes  and 
two prerogative lines. The new architecture of the future funding as an alternative to the baseline 
scenario aims at:  

  Developing  synergies among policies finding a common ground for action, while respecting 

their specificities; 

  Reducing overlap and fragmentation;  

  Ensuring flexibility in the allocation of funds, while ensuring a certain degree of predictability 

of funding dedicated to each policy; 

  Fostering cross sectoral and innovative actions; 

  Ensuring a critical mass of resources to promote values, taking also into account the needs of 

each policy. 

Therefore, as an alternative to the current situation and baseline scenario  made of four funding 
programmes  and  two  prerogative  lines,  it  is  proposed  to  develop  synergies  among  the  current 
programmes  and  prerogative  lines  and  to  combine  them  into  a  single  political  chapeau  on  EU 
Values  with  two  underlying  funding  programmes:  the  European  Culture,  Rights  and  Values 
Programme and the Justice Programme, as visualized below: 

Figure 3: Current versus new architecture of the funding for EU values 

26 

 
 
This will allow a straightforward simplification, from four current funding programmes and two 
prerogative lines to only two funding programmes in the future. This new clustering will allow to 
further exploit the potential of current programmes to promote EU values and increase EU added 
value. The full exploitation of the interplay between cultural diversity, historical memory and the 
potential of the creative sector from one hand, and principles such as justice, rights, equality and 
anti-discrimination  from  the  other  hand,  is  fundamental  in  this  model  and  will  be  possible 
through the common denominator of citizenship.  

For example, as shown  by the  mid-term evaluation of Creative  Europe  programme, the current 
architecture  is  too  cumbersome,  as  it  includes  2  general  objectives,  4  specific  objectives  four 
dimensions of added value, common to all the strands of the Creative Europe programme and in 
addition,  7  priorities  and  11  support  measures  for  the  MEDIA  sub  programme.  The  proposed 
architecture under the new programme provides a major simplification compared to the current 
structure, to make support more flexible and able to adapt to new emerging needs. 

While  it  is  expected  that  the  overall  initiative  will  increase  the  potential  of  the  EU  to  act  to 
promote and protect Values by developing synergies between current  funding Programmes,  the 
proposed  model  acknowledges  and  maintains  the  specificities  of  the  single  policies,  including 
through the design of policy strands. This will allow taking into due consideration the distinctive 
nature  of  the  policies  who  will  compose  the  new  programme(s)  as  well  as  the  inherent 
specificities  of  the  current  programmes,  such  as  the  different  scope  of  the  legal  basis  and  the 
existence  of  already  well-defined  and  different  targeted  stakeholders  who  expect  to  recognize 
their own respective policy in the initiative.  

All in all, maintaining well-established brands of EU programmes will help to ensure continued 
engagement as well as visibility of EU support. Therefore distinctive strands will be maintained. 

A new European Culture, Rights and Values Programme 

The  proposed  general  objective  of  the  European  Culture,  Rights  and  Values  Programme  is  to 
empower people and sustain open, democratic, inclusive and creative societies through protecting 

27 

The future programme(s)Current programmesEurope for Citizens programmeRights Equality and Citizenship programmeThe EU values cluster European Culture Rightsand Values Programme Justice ProgrammePrerogative line related to the Charter of fundamental rightsJustice programmeCreativeEurope programmeMEDIA sub programmeCULTURE sub programmePrerogative lines on audio-visual 
 
and  promoting  rights,  equality  and  values  as  well  as  cultural  diversity  and  cultural  heritage  as 
enshrined in the EU Treaty, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the UN Convention on 
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 

The Programme will have three strands which will deliver on the above objective and which will 
be further articulated on specific objectives specified in the previous section. It will also have a 
cross-strand support: 

A 

EMPOWERING PEOPLE. Empowering people through the promotion and protection of 
rights values and equality freedom of expression, including media freedom and pluralism 
and through creating opportunities for engagement and participation; 

B  MEDIA. Promote the competitiveness and scalability of the European audiovisual industry 
and  cultural  diversity  as  an  EU  value  through  support  to  the  creation,  promotion,  access 
and  dissemination  of  European  works  by  large  audiences  within  Europe  and  beyond 
whereby accompanying the AVMSD; (thereafter referred to as MEDIA) 

C 

[CULTURE].  Safeguarding,  developing  and  promoting  European  cultural  diversity  and 
Europe's cultural heritage and strengthening the competitiveness of the European cultural 
and creative sectors (with the exception of the audiovisual industry) (thereafter referred to 
as Culture) 

D  CROSS-STRAND SUPPORT. The cross-strand support would provide for and accelerate 
the synergies between the different strands of the programme. As such it would be the 'glue' 
that  creates  bonds,  thus  strengthening  the  internal  coherence  of  the  programme.  It  will 
support joint actions having a stronger impact than actions delivered by each strand on its 
own, in particular:  

a)  Funding  should  be  devoted  to  promote  the  visibility  of  the  programme  and  foster 
citizens'  outreach.  This  may  include  dissemination  tools  and  information  campaigns, 
including  through  social  media  with  a  focus  on  the  young,  as  well  as  ‘capacity 
building’.  Funding  will  also  be  used  to  ensure  the  mainstreaming  of  Charter  of 
Fundamental rights, equality and anti-discrimination in the post-2020 MFF.  

b)  Funds should foster creativity and citizens' engagement through a Creative Lab, which 
will  experiment  new  forms  of  culture  creation  and  distribution  at  the  crossroads 
between  different  cultural  and  creative  sectors45  or  with  the  education  sector,  through 
the  use  of  digital  means  as  well  as  between  culture  and  fundamental  rights,  or  audio-
visual and non-discrimination policies46. 

c)  Access  to  finance  to  all  cultural  and  creative  SMEs  building  on  the  successful 
deployment  of  the  Cultural  and  Creative  Sectors  Guarantee  Facility  will  be  addressed 
under the SME window of the InvestEU programme which guarantees debt and equity 
support  to  enhance  access  and  availability  of  finance  for  SMEs.  While  the  access  to 
debt  finance  remains  the  main  challenge  for  the  SMEs  from  cultural  and  creative 
sectors,  the  need  for  providing  equity  and  quasi-equity  to  cash-intensive  and  fast 
growing creative SMEs and mid-caps will also be further explored.  

d)  Funds should also be devoted to a network of desks that will promote the programme at 
national level, provide information, support cross border cooperation between potential 

28 

 
beneficiaries  and  support  the  Commission  in  disseminating  the  results  of  the 
programme and reaching out the citizens. 

The new JUSTICE Programme 

The  aim  of  the  future  JUSTICE  funding  Programme  shall  be  the  further  development  of  a 
European  area  of  justice  based  on  mutual  recognition  and  mutual  trust  and  to  contribute  to 
upholding EU values such as the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, the effectiveness 
of the justice system and its equal access to all. The Programme shall largely continue to follow 
the intervention logic of its predecessor programme supporting Member States to achieve more 
effective  justice  systems,  where  legal  practitioners  know  how  and  when  to  apply  EU  acquis, 
where cross-border cooperation is thriving and the rights of victims and persons accused of crime 
are  respected.  Support  to  collect  comparative  information  on  the  efficiency,  quality  and 
independence  of  national  justice  systems  and  national  rule  of  law  safeguards  should  continue, 
including in order to feed into the EU Justice Scoreboard and the European Semester. In relation 
to 
the  Programme  shall  have  cross-cutting  objectives  of 
digitalisation, including of national justice systems, civic technology, robotics, registers and legal 
technology.  The  anti-drugs  component  of  the  current  Justice  Programme  would  fall  under  the 
successor of the Internal Security Fund – Police. 

technological  developments, 

3.1.3.  Discarded alternative: one programme 

For reasons connected to the legal basis the alternative proposing one sole instrument/programme 
has been discarded. 

Most  of  the  activities  and  policies  are  based  on  articles  that  foresee  an  ordinary  legislative 
procedure except for the current Europe for Citizens Programme.   

Currently  the  main  focus  of  the  Europe  for  Citizens  Programme  is  on  civic  participation  and 
hence  it  is  based  on  art.  352  TFEU  (unanimity).  After  analysis,  the  objectives  of  the 
corresponding activities could, subject to a certain reorientation of their focus, be adapted to fit 
within the new approach of a broader programme; hence they would fall within the scope of Art 
167(1) and (2) TFEU, which foresee the ordinary legislative procedure.  

However,  the  Justice  Programme  legal  basis,  whilst  also  commanding  the  ordinary  legislative 
procedure, is subject to the variable geometry organised in Protocols 21 and 22 to the Treaties. 
Thus it needs to remain in a separate instrument.  

Furthermore,  after  analysis,  the  activities  currently  funded  under  the  prerogative  line 
"communication  and  evaluation  activities  that  are  contributing  to  an  area  of  justice  and 
fundamental rights" cannot be included in the future programme as their legal basis would be art 
352.  

A detailed enumeration of the legal basis of the framework is included in annex 5.  

3.2. 

Priorities 

Setting  priorities  will  be  crucial  to  focus  future  interventions  on policy  priorities  and  emerging 
issues and achieve better results. The priorities are presented hereafter by policy area. 

In the area of rights and equality 

29 

 
  The mid-term evaluation confirms the relevance of the objectives and the need to continue to 
act  on  all  covered  areas  but  also  provides  indications  that  an  increased  attention  should  be 
given to emerging issues such as for instance as cyber-violence (see section 1.2.1.). 

  Operating  grants  have  proved  to  be  effective  and  should  be  prioritised.  This  allows  the 
functioning of NGO's and EU-wide networks, such as victim support organisations, equality 
bodies, representative organisations of persons with disabilities, etc. 

  A critical mass of NGOs need to be reached in order to have a multiplier effect and ensure 
that the EU strengthens its role and image as champion in the promotion of rights and values.  
  Work  with  national  administrations,  for  instance  through  restricted  calls  for  proposals 
remains key to ensure complementarities of actions between the EU and national levels. 
  Funds  need  to  be  devoted  to  activities  to  support  policy  and  legislative  developments, 
monitoring  and  follow-up  and  to  ensure  an  efficient  implementation  of  the  Commission's 
right  initiative  and  efficient  governance  of  the  EU  legislative  process.  This  includes 
procurements for impact assessment, market studies, conformity checks, experts groups, etc.   

As indicated in section 1.2.1., the lessons learned with the REC programme show that setting the 
specific  objectives  at  policy  level  allows  enough  flexibility  in  the  phase  of  implementation  to 
focus on specific priorities, to adapt to emerging issues, but also to face a scarcity of funding (i.e. 
by alternating calls for proposals of different policy areas every other year). Therefore, the above 
priorities will not have an impact on the architecture of the future programme and regulation.  

In the area of citizenship   

Funding activities should follow a bottom-up approach that has proved successful in the current 
programmes,  namely  the  REC,  Europe  for  Citizens  and  Creative  Europe.  In  particular,  the 
positive experience of Europe for Citizens should be further promoted to create opportunities for 
a debate on European history beyond national perspectives and to fund remembrance projects. As 
a  follow  up  of  the  European  Year  of  Cultural  heritage,  larger  projects  of  preservation  and 
conservation of major European memorial sites and archives will be also promoted.  

Funds  should  also  seek  to  strengthen  the  role  of  media  as  a  cornerstone  for  democracy  with 
actions  related  to  monitoring  and  supporting  media  freedom  and  pluralism,  quality  journalism 
and  media  literacy,  thus  helping  building  better  informed  and  democratic  European  societies, 
contributing  to  enabling  citizens  to  make  full  use  of  their  right  to  be  informed.  This  includes 
addressing the phenomenon of disinformation. 

The programme should also promote opportunities for societal and intercultural engagement and 
civic participation and by bringing together Europeans to discuss and work together on issues of 
common  concern  in  town-twinning  projects,  networks  of  towns  and  civil  society  projects.  This 
would  help  boosting  citizens'  awareness  of  fundamental  values,  their  degree  of  engagement  in 
society  and  with  the  EU  project.  Cultural  activities  such  as  the  European  Heritage  Label  and 
Days  should  also  be  used  as  an  arena  for  citizens  to  gain  awareness  and  raise  their  voice  on 
political issues.. 

Support should also be given to the European Citizens’ Initiative, which is a unique instrument 
for participatory democracy enabling citizens to have a say in policies that affect their lives. 

In the area of culture 

30 

 
Support  shall  be  given  to  the  reinforcement  of  the  cross-border  dimension  of  the  cultural  and 
creative sectors within Europe and beyond through a dedicated mobility scheme. Mobility in the 
culture  and  creative  sectors  pursues  specific  objectives,  which  take  into  account  the  specific 
nature  of  the  artistic  and  creative  production  process,  namely  focusing  on  the  potential  of  co-
creation or audience development via residencies, or similar exchanges which are result-oriented. 
The  mobility  scheme  will  support  the  intrinsic  dynamic  of  the  artistic  creation  by  bringing 
together  artistic  and  creative  professionals  from  diverse  sectors  and  disciplines.  The  aim  is  to 
develop  joint  activities  driven  by  their  common  cultural  and  artistic  vision  in  order  to  produce 
joint  outputs  and  results  in  the  form  of  innovative  creative  and  artistic  works  and  productions. 
The scheme will create favourable conditions for artists and creative professionals in Europe to 
integrate cross-border mobility, which is essential to nurture their talent, and for their careers and 
for  audience  development.  It  will  for  instance  increase  the  visibility  of  European  artists  and 
creative  professionals,  in  particular  emerging  ones  and  those  lacking  international  exposure. 
Individual  mobility  in  this  sense  is  a  means  to  jointly  develop  artistic  and  creative  talent  and 
network building, which is particularly relevant for artists and creative professionals, especially 
those at the start of their career. Besides, this tailor-made type of individual mobility is essential 
to  promote  and  safeguard  cultural  diversity  and  creative  content,  which  is  one  of  the  main 
missions of the EU in the field of Culture.  This particular nature and specific aims justifies the 
independent  existence  of  such  a  mobility  scheme  outside  the  Erasmus+  Programme,  which 
primarily focus on mobility actions with a strong learning component as a key element and which 
does not primarily aim at the production of joint outputs.  The target groups for a mobility action 
under the culture sub-programme would be both individuals but also the mostly smaller public or 
private culture and creative institutions and organisations who could host these professionals. 

The  programme  will  also  provide  support  to  the  European  Capitals  of  Culture,  the  European 
Heritage  Label  and  EU  cultural  prizes.  It  also  envisages  granting  operating  support  to  pan-
European organisations and allows for policy development actions. 

Support  shall  be  given  to  the  building  of  a  cultural  capacity  leading  to  increase  cultural 
participation for all Europeans, including via awareness activities in education and training or in 
areas with close links to culture such as public or urban spaces.  

Funding will be dedicated to foster favourable ecosystems for the Cultural and Creative Sectors’ 
capacity  to  innovate,  embrace  the  digital  shift  and  to  incarnate  and  favour  the  development  of 
European identity.  

Based  on  the  experience  of  the  audiovisual  sector,  a  targeted  support  will  aim  at  meeting  the 
needs  of  certain  creative  sectors  along  their  value  chain  such  as  the  music  sector47  and  the 
cultural  and  heritage  sectors48.  Support  to  the  literature/publishing  sector,  which  is  currently 
limited  to  the  translation  and  promotion  of  European  literature  across  borders  in  Europe  and 
beyond, will be broadened while the challenges for other sectors such as architecture, design or 
fashion  to  contribute  to  cultural  diversity  and  become  resilient  is  targeted  via  limited  concrete 
actions. Creating links with cultural tourism activities could be part of such targeted support in 
close linkages with the future Single Market programme. 

In line with the Communication on "Towards an EU strategy for international cultural relations", 
the  programme  will  also  strive  to  reinforce  the  promotion  of  cultural  and  creative  works  from 
participating  countries  in  the  rest  of  the  world  and  develop  more  targeted  activities  with 
organisations in third countries.  

31 

 
The  programme  will  also  provide  support  to  the  European  Capitals  of  Culture,  the  European 
Heritage  Label  and  EU  cultural  prizes.  It  also  envisages  granting  operating  support  to  pan-
European organisations and allows for policy development actions.  

In the area of audiovisual 

The  MEDIA  programme  will  accompany  the  industrial  and  cultural  objectives  pursued  by  the 
provisions of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive. In a more open and competitive digital 
single  market,  it  will  be  crucial  that  funds  favour  the  scaling  up  and  consolidation  of  the  EU 
audiovisual  industries.  The  new  AVMS  Directive  will  set-up  an  objective  of  30%  of  European 
works  available  on  VOD.  This  will  be  an  opportunity  for  European  works,  but  needs 
accompanying measures to help make European non-national works available across the Union. 
This means in practice, focusing on those projects and actions bearing a potential for cross-border 
success and stepping up investments in the promotion of EU works49. 

Europe needs to invest more in its audiovisual talent. Priority will be given to help 5000 young or 
established professionals per annum, to understand the impact of new technologies on production 
processes, marketing and distribution, through physical and on-line training, (MOOCs) for wider 
reach and mentoring activities to ultimately make the EU audiovisual industry more competitive. 

Support  will  be  clarified  and  cater  on  the  one  hand,  for  single  development  for  projects  from 
smaller markets to ensure diversity and on the other, support will be provided to slates of films 
and individual high profile European films and TV series able to compete with US productions50. 
Structured promotion support will enhance the commercial success of the European films which 
have a clear export potential in markets such as the US, Asia (China) and Latin America.  

New actions will be developed to support innovative story telling formats and in particular virtual 
reality, to help champion a leading European VR ecosystem. 51 

Distribution  of  works  across  borders  will  be  reinforced  and  made  more  efficient52  by  bringing 
together online and theatrical distribution and enhancing cross border collaboration. Support will 
be given to a selection of 25 European films per annum and to the distribution of slates of films. 

Support  to  VOD  platforms  will  move  from  individual  support53  to  a  structured  network  of 
European  VOD  services,  encouraging  strategic  collaboration  among  platforms  regarding 
technology,  data  collection  and  promotional  activities  and  possibly  acquisitions  of  rights.  The 
objective is to increase SVOD subscribers by 200% and TVOD transactions by 50%.  

Support  will  be  provided  to  double  the  reach  of  the  European  network  of  cinemas  in  medium 
sized  towns  with  fewer  than  100.000  residents54  (from  269  cities  in  2016  to  400  in  2027) 
especially  in  Eastern  countries;  to  promote  EU  films  among  young  audiences55  and  foster 
collaborations to innovate the cinematic experience.  

The  current  individual  support  to  film  festivals  will  be  replaced  by  a  structured  pan  European 
network of festivals to reach economies of scale and expand their audience. The objective is to 
support more than 100 festivals and reach audience of 10 million in 2027.56. 

In the area of Justice  

In order to achieve medium to long-term results in this policy  area, priority  should be given  to 
action that:  

32 

 
  help Member States to achieve more effective justice systems, where legal practitioners know 
how and when to apply EU acquis, where cross-border cooperation is thriving and the rights 
of  victims  and  persons  accused  of  crime  are  respected.  Support  to  EU-wide  networks 
working in this area is crucial. 

 

  Support  to  collect  comparative  information  on  the  efficiency,  quality  and  independence  of 
national justice systems and national rule of law safeguards should continue, in particular to 
feed into the EU Justice Scoreboard and the European Semester. 
support 
justice  systems  and 
the  expected  continued  digitisation  of 
interoperability  of  IT  systems  to  enhance  judicial  cooperation  and  access  to  justice  and 
achieve full EU coverage concerning all voluntary e-justice projects; 
increase  the  capacity  of  national  legal  practitioners  and  public  authorities  in  Union  law, 
including  training  on  the  Charter  of  fundamental  rights  as  well  as  the  support  and  co-
operation between these authorities and the European Public Prosecutor´s Office (EPPO)  
ensure procedural rights and rights of victims;  

the  national 

 

 

External activities 

As  a  general  rule,  the  future  funding  instruments  should  remain  open  to  third  EEA  countries, 
acceding and candidate countries, also allowing for ad-hoc collaborations with the FPI on issues 
on common interest, following a flexible approach. At the same time, some sectorial specificities 
should  be  taken  into  account  and  continue  in  the  future.  Since  its  inception,  the  MEDIA 
programme has required alignment with the Audivisual Media Services Directive to accede the 
programme. In the future full alignment with the provisions of the revised AVMS Directive will 
be required to acceding countries, , potential candidate countries and EFTA countries covered by 
the  EEA  agreement  and  the  Swiss  confederation.  Lighter  requirements  will  be  defined  for 
countries  covered  by  the  European  Neighbourhood  policy  to  allow  for  partial  participation  in 
MEDIA.  The  current  Culture  Sub-programme  already  includes  third  countries  and  allows 
allocating a certain percentage of costs to partner organisations in third countries. Furthermore in 
line with the Communication on "Towards an EU strategy for international cultural relations", the 
Culture part should remain open to the participation of Neighbouring countries but also allow for 
targeted activities on the global market.  

In  addition,  synergies  and  greater  alignment  between  DEVCO  funds  and  culture  and  MEDIA 
funds to promote international collaboration should be put in place to avoid overlaps. This could 
be  implemented  by  earmarked  funding  from  the  different  external  instruments  to  some  well-
established MEDIA actions such as training, international co-productions or access to market or 
in specific culture actions. Furthermore, MEDIA will be devoting efforts in structured promotion 
of EU films with an export potential, targeting primarily countries such as the US, China, Russia, 
India, and Latin America. 

3.3. 

Synergies with other funding programmes   

The future EU values framework and its underlying funding programmes will inter-act with the 
other post-2020 funding programmes. The following synergies deserve to be highlighted: 

3.3.1.  Synergies with the other programmes under the future "Investing in people 

and EU values" framework 

The creation of a cluster of the EU budget specifically dedicated to "Investing in people and EU 
values" creates bonds between the programmes that will contribute to it.  

33 

 
The  future  European  Social  Fund  and  EaSI  programme  will  be  a  major  building  block  of  the 
"Investing in People and Values" framework. It will provide support to citizens by investing in 
human capital, supporting (youth) employment, social innovation, the acquisition of basic digital 
skills  and  the  integration  of  migrants,  and  by  supporting  the  most  deprived  (social  inclusion). 
Potential  synergies  will  need  to  be  developed,  or  strengthened,  as  the  funds  will  have  a  strong 
potential  to  directly  impact  people  –  including  the most  disadvantaged  and  discriminated  -  and 
promote gender equality and equal opportunities for under-represented groups such as the Roma 
as  well  as  social  justice,  EU  values  and  the  respect  of  fundamental  rights.  The  envisaged 
strengthened focus on a bottom-up approach will also create ownership for reforms with citizens 
and  promote  a  better  understanding  and  acceptance  of  a  Social  Europe.  The  future  European 
Social Fund and EaSI programme will  achieve their objectives by working on the employment 
and  social  inclusion  of  Europeans,  a  different  –  and  complementary  –  angle  than  the  angle  of 
values, rights and culture. 

Synergies with Erasmus+ can be reinforced by exploiting practical experience from the National 
Agencies  and  by  more  systematically  mainstreaming  needs  of  culture  education  and  training 
institutions into the existing and future actions. Erasmus + can also support discriminated groups 
– such as youngsters with disabilities  - in their access to education and towards stronger social 
inclusion. 

3.3.2.  Synergies with the "External Action" cluster of the budget  

The promotion  of values and rights within the EU is  mirrored by their promotion at the global 
level,  including  through  the  linkages  of  the  implementation  of  the  Sustainable  Development 
Goals.  In  this  respect,  synergies  need  to  be  developed  in  particular  with  the  external  action  at 
multilateral  level  but  also  in  the  development  cooperation  aid,  to  ensure  coherence  in  the 
promotion of for instance gender equality, anti-discrimination, tolerance, the rule of law. 

Notwithstanding the possibility of "windows" for certain (capacity building) activities within the 
international  instrument,  the  culture  strand  intends  to  open  the  European  Capital  of  Culture 
initiative  through  twinning  and  shadowing  schemes,  the  Networks  and  Platforms  schemes57  to 
non-EU countries with (limited) opportunities for competing for the Prizes, to develop incentives 
to foster the inclusion of third country partners in projects where member states organisations are 
in the lead, to support individual artist mobility through exchanges, training and residencies and 
to  support  promotional  efforts  in  strategically  important  markets  and  festivals  outside  the  EU 
member states  for which there is currently no specific budget.  

3.3.3.  Synergies with the Single Market Programmes 

The creation of a EU values framework in the EU budget represents the other side of the coin of a 
European project based on the single market but also able to go beyond. In particular, the future 
Single Market Programme will provide support to citizens and consumer in the internal market, 
thereby  contributing  to  enhance  their  rights  and  empower  them.  In  this  respect,  it  will 
complement the actions that will be funded by the EU Culture, values and rights programme that 
has a strong component on empowering people. Synergies can also be found on tourism which 
has  a  cultural  dimension  and  can  be  seen  as  a  way  of  enhancing  mutual  understanding  among 
people. Synergies will be strong with the future Justice programme as well. Indeed, by financing 
activities  on  company  law,  contract  law  and  Anti-Money  Laundering,  the  future  Single  market 
Programme will contribute directly to the implementation of the EU policy in the field of justice 

34 

 
and  the  creation  of  an  EU  area  of  justice  and  will  follow  the  policy  lines  developed  in  this 
respect. The same is valid for the consumer policy. 

The  culture  strand  will  focus  its  interventions,  where  adequate,  on  the  creativity  and  cultural 
elements  of  certain  industries  (such  as  fashion)  by  concentrating  on  promotion,  skills 
development or training.  

3.3.4.  Synergies with budget cluster on Strategic Infrastructure 

The  EU  values  framework  should  be  reflected  in  the  future  Digital  Europe  Programme  (DEP) 
which will be the “successor” of the current Connecting Europe Facility program, incorporating 
building blocks and Digital Service Infrastructures. Indeed, while the EU values framework - and 
in particular the Justice programme enables to develop Commission lead central platforms- , the 
future  DEP  would  enable  to  ensure  the  digital  transformation  of  the  judicial  systems  in  the 
Member  States, 
the  development  of  LegalTech  by  EU  companies  and  cross-border 
interconnection  and  interoperability.  Furthermore,  within  the  Digital  Europe  programme  two 
leadership  projects  will  assure  the  continuation  of  deployment  activities  linked  to  the 
#Digital4Culture strategy. 

The  leadership  project  on  digital  transformation  of  the  cultural  heritage  sector  will  continue  to 
support European initiative.  

FP9 R&I programme: 

  The cluster on "Inclusive, Resilient and Secure Societies" includes an area of intervention 
on  Cultural  Heritage.  Within  this  cluster,  it  is  key  to  support  research  and  innovation 
activities for the development of ICT technologies for the digitisation and preservation of 
tangible and intangible cultural heritage.  

  The  "Digital  Industry"  cluster  foresees,  within  the  Next  Generation  Internet  area  of 
interventions,  research  activities  which  are  closely  linked  to  the  cultural  and  creative 
industries  (e.g.  AR/VR,  immersive  environments,  human  computer  interfaces,  new 
(social) media). It is also foreseen to continue efforts to achieve crossovers between the 
creative  sectors,  in  particular  the  arts,  and  innovation  in  industry  and  society  via  the 
S+T+ARTS initiative.  

3.3.5.  Synergies with Border management and security 

The EU Values framework will develop synergies with the programmes under the cluster "Border 
management  and  security".  In  particular  there  are  synergies  to  be  developed  between  criminal 
law  activities  supported  by  the  Justice  programme  and  the  support  to  security  and  counter-
terrorism. Activities to combat and prevent racism, xenophobia, hate speech are also key in the 
fight against radicalisation and terrorism. The promotion and protection of the rights of the child 
in vulnerable situation, i.e. unaccompanied minors, and the prevention of violence against women 
and children is also key while dealing with migration crisis. Trafficking in human beings has also 
a  gender  and  age  dimension  that  links  this  phenomenon  to  actions  to  combat  violence  against 
women and children.  

4.  DELIVERY MECHANISMS OF THE INTENDED FUNDING 

The  analysis  done  in  terms  of  drivers  that  affect  the  delivery  mechanisms  shows  that  there  is 
room for improvement as compared of the current baseline scenario that presents a fragmentation 
of programmes, some overlaps, a dilution of funding, lack of opportunities in terms of innovative 

35 

 
approaches  and  synergies  among  different  policies,  insufficient  or  limited  scale  dissemination 
and  use  of  the  results  and  outputs,  low  success  rate.  Some  of  these  issues  are  already  tackled 
thorough the proposed architecture of the future funding programmes as indicated in chapter 3. In 
this respect, the delivery mechanism of the future funding that is presented in in this section as 
alternative  to  the  baseline  scenario,  aims  at  simplifying  and  improving  the  effectiveness  and 
efficiency of the programmes through: 

  scaling up of beneficiaries and avoid dilution of funding while also keeping the door open to 

all types of organisations independently from their size; 

  Ensuring economies of scale; 

  Simplifying the procedure for applicants and beneficiaries; 

  Improving visibility, dissemination and use of the results; 

  Setting incentives to reward performance and success;  

4.1. 

Implementation mode 

The existing funding programmes are mainly implemented through  direct management while the 
Cultural  and  Creative  Sectors  Guarantee  Facility  is  currently  implemented  in  indirect 
management  mode  by  delegation  agreement  with  the  European  Investment  Bank  Group.  The 
analysis done until now and the proposed alternative to the current baseline scenario in terms of 
objectives  and  architecture  of  the  funding  programmes  do  not  lead  to  the  necessity  to  change 
management  mode.  Therefore,  the  future  programmes  will  continue  be  implemented  via  direct 
and indirect management as described above. Within this direct management, there are different 
concrete ways of implementation: the executive agency EACEA is used to implement the bulk of 
the  Creative  Europe  programme  (87%)  and  Europe for  Citizens  (88%)  while  the  totality  of  the 
Justice  and REC programmes are executed directly by DG Justice with  the contribution of DG 
EMPL for the part on disability and DG HOME for the part on drugs.  

For the future programmes the following is proposed: 

  For the future Justice Programme, as well as for the specific objectives  "Rights and equality" 
and "Daphné: combatting violence" of the future European Culture, Values and Rights, DG 
JUST shall continue to manage directly both grants and procurements with DG EMPL in co-
delegation for the area of disability. Following  the evaluations of predecessor  programmes, 
the  average  size  of  grants  has  increased  to  avoid  small  scale  projects  that  did  not  prove  to 
have added value, to reach the average of 300.000 Euro, which is compatible with a follow-
up  at  DG  level.  In  this  respect,  DG  JUST  has  heavily  invested  in  the  last  few  years  to 
increase  its  expertise  in  the  management  of  the  programme,  including  in  the  migration 
towards  the  new  corporate  system  SYGMA  and  giving  the  execution  to  an  Agency  would 
mean  to  lose  this  investment.  The  type  of  beneficiaries  of  both  the  REC  and  Justice 
programmes - namely NGOs, but also public administrations, legal practitioners, networks - 
will allow the DG to directly target the right groups of beneficiaries and to keep a direct link 
with  the  ground.  DG  JUST  has  for  instance  started  to  use  restricted  grants  to  public 
administration to fund EU-wide communication campaigns as opposed to doing EU-imposed 
global  campaign.  This  direct  contact  has  also  proven  essential  to  have  a  close  working 
relationship  between  the  programme  management  and  policy  units  and  to  use  the  financial 
management to inform policy developments. All in all, the management within the DG also 
allows  for  better  flexibility  to  re-adjust  priorities  in  case  of  emerging  needs.  At  the  same 

36 

 
time, the sensitivity of some of the issues dealt with by the REC and JUSTICE programmes, 
as showed by the latest issues on the rule of law, the non-respect of fundamental rights etc. 
requires a careful management of the programmes. Furthermore, it should be underlined that 
the  Commission,  as  the  Focal  Point  for  the  implementation  of  the  UN  Convention  on  the 
Rights  of  Persons  with  Disabilities,  has  the  direct  responsibility  to  reports  to  the  UN 
Committee. It thus must keep a direct responsibility for the actions it undertakes and finances 
in  this  area.  For  all  these  reasons,  the  management  of  this  part  of  the  future  programme 
should remain with DG JUST, with the exception of the citizenship part which is dealt with 
lower.  

 

  The  MEDIA  and  the  [CULTURE]  strands  will  continue  to  be  implemented  in  a  direct 
management  mode  through  the  EAC  Executive  Agency  because  this  is  cost-effective,  as 
confirmed by the mid-term evaluation while strengthening ,the supervision by the parent DGs 
on EACEA procedures, results and performance.   
Implementation  of  MEDIA  will  be  simplified  and  streamlined,  for  example,  by  grouping 
together  beneficiaries  and  reducing  the  number  of  underlying  grant  contracts  and  payment 
transactions.  Building  on  the  on-going  streamlining  of  the  Distribution  schemes,  which 
represent  30%  of  the  MEDIA  budget,  the  objective  will  be  to  reduce  the  overall  MEDIA 
transactions by 30%, thus lowering administrative overheads and increasing the efficiency of  
the programme 

  New  financial  instruments  providingguarantee  and  where  needed  equity  type  support  to 
SMEs in the cultural and creative sectors, may be implemented through the Invest EU Fund 
in indirect management  mode by delegation agreements with implementing  partners in line 
with the Financial Regulation   

  Actions related to the media sector, also including the Multimedia Actions (which inclusion 
in  the  programme  remains  an  open  question),  media  pluralism,  media  literacy  and  quality 
journalism, will be managed by DG CNECT. 

  The specific objective " Creating opportunities for citizens' engagement and participation" of 
the future European Culture, Values and Rights, is expected to give rise to a high number of 
small scale projects/grants as for it is already the case for the current Europe for citizens (the 
majority  of  grants  are  less  than  EUR  100,000):  therefore,  the  delivery  should  be  continued 
through the executive agency EACEA. As compared to the current implementation mode, it 
is  proposed  that  the  activities  linked  to  citizenship,  with  the  exception  of  procurement 
activities,  are  managed  by  EACEA.  Given  the  new  proposed  specific  objectives,  this  will 
include  activities  on  the  rights  deriving  from  EU  citizenship  currently  funded  by  the  REC 
Programme and implemented by DG JUST. 

  Specific actions may continue to be put in place in all policy strands. In particular, DG JUST 

will continue to manage directly also procurements.  

37 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure  4:  Mechanism  chosen  for  the  delivery  of  the  different  components  of  the 
programme: 

4.2. 

Type of expenditure 

Part of the Programmes should be implemented through action grants and operating grants since 
their direct beneficiaries are to a large extent Civil Society Organisations and Non-Governmental 
Organisations (CSOs/NGOs), social partners, SMEs, legal practitioners, networks, public cultural 
institutions  and  other  actors.  Restricted  grants  remain  an  important  tool  to  co-finance  activities 
with public administration and bodies. Operating grants have also proved to be an important tool 
to  support  CSOs/NGOs  I  all  areas  in  order  to  allow  for  more  sustainability  and  should  also  be 
maintained in the future given that the functioning of an organization depends heavily on stability 
in annual budgetand staff continuity.  

The possibility of using 'cascading grants' according to the provision of the Financial Regulation, 
as  it  is  already  happening  for  the  Creative  Europe,  Culture  platforms  scheme  or  the  refugee 
projects, shall be further explored in particular for the areas currently managed by DG JUST as 
this would allow for smaller grants without the administrative disproportionality. Along the same 
lines,  for  MEDIA,  the  implementation  by the  Agency  will  be  streamlined,  notably  by  reducing 
the  number  of  micro  or  small  grants.  Beneficiaries  will  be  brought  together  into  groupings  or 
consortia  and  cascading  grants  will  be  used  in  order  to  further  reduce  the  number  of  grants  as 
well  as  payments  to  be  processed.  In  order  to  facilitate  consortia,  coordination  costs  will  be 
eligible for support. Grants will include incentives which provide for increased financial support 
for those projects and beneficiaries which  meet verifiable targets  corresponding to policy goals 
e.g.  increased  audiences  or  successful  promotion  campaigns.  Such  focus  on  consolidation  of 
projects, through the development of networks and cascading grants could results in a decrease 
by  at  least  30%  of  the  number  of  financial  transactions  and  correspondent  administrative 
overheads.    

In certain cultural and creative areas, rewarding of excellence or innovation is being honoured via 
prizes  linked  to  financial  support.  This  is  a  way  of  boosting  creativity  and  steering  the  sector. 
Also based on actions currently being tested with the "Music moves Europe" Preparatory Action, 
which address the specific needs of the music sector, new funding mechanisms will specifically 
target this sector with the aim of meeting the needs of the sector along their value chain. 

Procurement  activities  will  also  be  used  to  finance  for  instance  studies,  exchange  of  good 
practices, experts' networks or awareness-raising actions such as European Awards and represent 
an important tool in particular in the policy fields currently covered by the REC and Justice.   

38 

 
 
Support  to  facilitate  the  access  to  finance  of  companies  operating  in  the  cultural  and  creative 
sectors  will  be  provided  through  financial  instruments  within  InvestEU,  which  will  provide 
guarantees  to  financial  intermediaries  and  equity  financial  instruments,  as  well  as  technical 
assistance grants. 

One  of  the  problem  drivers  discussed  earlier  on  was  that  the  complexity  and  heterogeneity  of 
funding rules in the current programmes are an obstacle for applicants. The use of a single entry 
point for external users to participate in the grants' life cycle (i.e. a participant portal) and of an 
overall  grant  management  system  have  an  important  role  to  play  in  facilitating  access  to  the 
programme.  This  is  currently  the  case  for  DG  JUST,  which  has  finished  migrating  to  the 
Commission corporate system for H2020. DG CNECT is starting this migration through EACEA, 
and DG EAC and HOME will also do the same at a later stage (also through EACEA).  

The complexity of funding rules as well as the “lack of support to first time applicants” pointed 
out by stakeholders will also been addressed through the creation  of  a cross strand support and 
in particular the funding of a common network of desks and contact points, building on existing 
networks, whose main objective will be to provide information on the programmes to current and 
potential beneficiaries, and on the possibility to build transnational partnerships. 

Communication  on  the  programmes  and  dissemination  of  the  results,  also  been  pointed  out  as 
weaknesses, will be an important focus of the cross-strand support which will allow to dedicate 
fund  to  design  a  proper  communication  strategy  for  the  European  Culture,  Rights  and  Values 
programme.  

4.3. 

Alignment with recent changes in the Financial Regulation 

Substantial  simplification  measures  such  as  lump  sums  and  flat  rates,  e-form  application  and 
grant  decisions  have  already  been  introduced  in  the  current  Europe  for  Citizens  programme. 
Along these lines, simplification will be sought in the implementation related to the policy areas 
currently managed by DG JUST, such as lump sums, flat rates and unit costs while respecting the 
rules  of  the  Financial  Regulation  and  its  last  developments.  This  will  free  administrative 
resources and will redirect them towards more results-oriented grant management. The specificity 
of  the  cultural  sector  and  the  individual  character  of  the  supported  actions  have  made  the 
calculation and application of lump sum and flat-rates challenging (outside the literary translation 
scheme) but where the calculation basis can be lightened would constitute a welcome reduction 
of  bureaucracy  for  beneficiaries.  Lump  sums  will  continue  to  be  used  in  MEDIA  in  order  to 
simplify  financial  management,  when  appropriate.  The  methodology  for  calculating  the  lump 
sums will foresee a regular monitoring to ensure alignment with real costs. In the framework of 
FPAs,  successful  projects  could  be  rewarded  and  more  balanced  spending  could  be  achieved 
without punishing failure. 

5.  HOW WILL PERFORMANCE BE MONITORED AND EVALUATED? 

A detailed monitoring and evaluation plan will be developed to specify how the related actions 
will be carried out in practice, under what data strategy (including what data is required and how 
it will be collected and analysed).  

Programme  monitoring  will  take  place  both  continuously  (e.g.  to  respond  timely  to  any 
unforeseen  events/exceptional  needs)  and  on  a  regularly planned basis  (to  report  on  key  events 

39 

 
such  as  calls  for  proposals,  project  reviews,  coordination  or  dissemination  events)  and  where 
relevant feed into some key programme indicators.  

The monitoring reports will subsequently feed into: 

  A  mid-term  evaluation  (to  be  performed  no  later  than  four  years  after  the  start  of 

programme implementation) 

  A  final  evaluation  (to  be  performed  no  later  than  four  years  after  the  end  of  the 

programming period) 
  Annual monitoring reports. 

These  retrospective  evaluations  will  be  carried  out  in  compliance  with  the  latest  applicable 
version  of  the  Better  Regulation  guidelines  (drawing  also  on  its  toolbox  guidance  and  best 
practice)  and  assess  the  programme's  performance  based  on  key  programme  indicators/targets 
and  on  a  detailed  analysis  of  the  degree  to  which  the  programme  can  be  deemed  relevant, 
effective,  efficient,  provides  enough  EU  added  value  and  is  coherent  with  main  EU  policies. 
They will include recommendations to address any lacks/problems identified or any potential to 
further improve the actions or their results and to help maximise their exploitation/impact. 

The Commission Services will communicate the conclusions of these evaluations (together with 
its  observations)  to  the  European  Parliament,  Council,  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee  and  Committee  of  the  Regions.  The  programme  monitoring  and  evaluation  reports 
will be made public, together with a scoreboard of key programme indicators.  

The key indicators proposed to help measure the success of the programme are listed below[i]. 

These  indicators  (corresponding  to  levels  1[ii]and  2[iii]  in  the  joint  taxonomy  defined  by  DG 
BUDG) address the main objectives of the programme in the form of impact or result indicators.  

Some of these indicators have been  used in the past (within currently running programmes), in 
which case baseline data could already be identified in which to ground some tentative targets.  

For other indicators proposed which are new, no baseline data will be available until at least the 
end of 2020 (though in some cases it may be possible to foresee what level of improvement over 
this future baseline could be targeted during the implementation of the programme). 

The set of indicators proposed has been designed in order to cover the programme objectives to 
help evaluate its effectiveness/relevance and added value.         

5.1. 

Culture, Rights and Values programme 

Specific objective (EMPOWERING PEOPLE): Empowering people through the promotion and 
protection of rights, values and equality, and through creating opportunities for citizens' engagement 
and participation, including by supporting civil society organisations  

Indicator  

Baseline & Target 

Frequency & data source 

40 

 
 
 
Number of people reached by: 

(i) training activities; 

(ii)  mutual  learning  and  exchange  of  good  practices 
activities; 

(iii)  awareness  raising,  information  and  dissemination 
activities. 

Number of transnational networks and initiatives focusing 
on  European  memory  and  heritage  as  a  result  of 
programme intervention 

Number  of  initiatives  focusing  on  media  freedom  and 
pluralism, media literacy, and quality journalism as a result 
of programme intervention 

yearly  

DG JUST / SYGMA 

yearly 

EACEA annual report 

yearly 

DG CNECT 

Specific  objective  (MEDIA):  Promoting  the  competitiveness  and  scalability  of  the  European 
audiovisual industry and cultural diversity and artistic freedom as an EU value through support to the 
creation,  promotion,  access  and  dissemination  of  European  works  reaching  large  audiences  within 
Europe and beyond thereby accompanying the AVMSD  

Indicator  

Baseline & Target 

Frequency & data source 

The  number  of  people  accessing  European  audiovisual 
works  from  countries  other  than  their  own  and  supported 
by the MEDIA programme 

Number of participants in learning activities supported by 
the  programme  who  assess  they  have  improved  their 
competences and increased their employability 

New indicator 

yearly 

MEDIA project final reports 

New indicator 

yearly 

MEDIA project final reports on 
basis of survey of participants 

Number  and  budget  of  co-productions  developed  and 
created with the support of the MEDIA programme 

New indicator 

yearly 

MEDIA project final reports on 
basis of survey of participants 

Number  of  people  reached  by  Business  to  Business 
promotional activities in major markets 

New indicator 

yearly 

MEDIA project final reports on 
basis of survey of participants 

Specific  objective  (CULTURE):  Safeguarding,  developing  and  promoting  European  cultural 
diversity  and  Europe's  cultural  heritage  and  strengthening  the  competitiveness  of  the  European 
cultural and creative sectors (with the exception of the audiovisual industry) 

Indicator  

Baseline & Target 

Frequency & data source 

Number  and  scale  of  transnational  partnerships  created 
with the support of the programme 

yearly 

Projects’ data 

Number  of  artists  &  cultural  &/or  creative  players 

yearly 

41 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(geographically)  mobile  beyond  national  borders  due  to 
Programme support, by country of origin 

Number  of  people  accessing  European  cultural  and 
creative  works  generated  by  the  Programme,  including 
works from countries other than their own 

5.2. 

Justice programme 

Projects' data 

yearly 

Projects' data 

General objective (JUSTICE): Contributing to the further development of an European area of Justice 
based on the rule of law, on mutual recognition and mutual trust and the effectiveness of the national 
justice systems 

Indicator  

Baseline & Target 

Frequency & data source 

in 

training 

Number of members of the judiciary and judicial staff who 
staff 
participated 
exchanges,  study  visits,  workshops  and  seminars)  funded 
by the Programme, including by the operating grant of the 
EJTN 

(including 

activities 

13 943 staff (2016) 

yearly  

Number  of  exchanges  of  information  in  the  European 
Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS)  

2 571 991 (2017); current 
target for 2020: 3 500 000 

DG JUST 

yearly  

DG JUST 

Number  of  hits on  the  E-Justice  portal  /  pages  addressing 
the need for information on cross-border civil cases 

Number of people reached by: 

(i)  mutual  learning  and  exchange  of  good  practices 
activities; 

(ii)  awareness  raising,  information  and  dissemination 
activities  

2 690 574 visits (2017) 

yearly 

DG JUST 

yearly  

DG JUST / SYGMA 

In addition, further operational programme management indicators (related to level 3[iv]) inspired 
by existing programmes and/or seeking to reflect commonalities between the various strands (e.g. 
where  similar  types  of  activities/output are  foreseen,  thus  helping to  measure  efficiency/quality 
gains  from  the  common  management  strategies  developed)  are  also  being  identified  to  help 
monitor/steer  the  programme  and  assess  its  efficiency  in  the  mid-term  and  final  evaluations 
(feeding into the full list of indicators per programme/strand, whose detailed specification goes 
beyond key elements to be specified in this section, but is tentatively included in Annex 7).    

We foresee in particular to continue using management indicators related to effective and reliable 
internal control systems such as:           

Objective 1: Effective and reliable internal control system giving the necessary guarantees 
concerning the legality and the regularity of the underlying transactions.  
Outcome 

Indicators (using 2018 baseline) 

Target  

42 

 
 
 
 
 
Legality and regularity of the 
underlying transactions in the DG  

Error rate – direct management: 
grants  
Error rate – direct management: 
procurement  
Error rate – indirect management  
Objective 2: Effective and reliable internal control system in line with sound financial management.  
Outcome 
Indicators (using 2018 baseline) 
Time to inform (art.128.2 a FR)  
Efficiency in the transaction 
Time to grant (art.128.2 b FR)  
processing  
Time to pay (art.92 FR)  

Target  
Respect deadlines specified in 
latest applicable Financial 
Regulation  

Error rate below 2%  
Error rate below 2%  
Error rate below 2%  

Operational indicators monitoring the geographical coverage of activities are also foreseen (e.g. 
to foster capacity building of European civil society so as to prevent the shrinking of civic space). 

In addition to further operational indicators, some context indicators have been included in annex 
7 (to help monitor the distance from some relevant EU policy objectives/identify further progress 
towards these or explain some elements of impact). 

To conclude, it should be underlined that comprehensive/detailed monitoring and evaluation 
plans (and the related detailed data strategy) will need to be further developed prior to 
programme implementation, building on key elements already identified.  

43 

 
 
Annex 1: Procedural information 

In  May  2017,  the  Commission  has  launched  the  work  on  the  post-2020  Multiannual  Financial 
Framework (MFF) to prepare the grounds for new, modified or renewed funding programmes. It 
initiated a spending review exercise that should, first, analyse the performance and achievements 
of the current funding programmes including their EU added value and successes and failures and 
identify the opportunities for synergies. In the following  exercise,  starting in January 2018, the 
Commission  will  be  working  on  the  preparation  of  a  post-2020  MFF  legal  proposal  and  will 
present it to the European Parliament and the Council before summer 2018.  

1)  LEAD DG(S), DECIDE PLANNING/CWP REFERENCES 

The post-2020 MFF DGs Core group and the Vice-President steering group, in its meeting of 12 
December 2017 gave a mandate to DG JUST to work towards an EU Values framework of the 
EU budget after 2020. DG JUST worked together with HOME, EAC, CNECT and EMPL.  

In view of the advanced stage of preparations and the compressed timeline, it was decided (note 
Ares(2018)1243019 - 06/03/2018) that planning entries for the programmes in Decide planning 
were not required. At the stage of consultation or adoption, as appropriate, lead DGs are however 
requested to submit the entries for the programmes into Decide to complete the formal adoption 
procedure. 

2)  ORGANISATION AND TIMING 

A  Commission  inter-service  steering  group  (ISSG),  chaired  by  the  Secretariat-General  was 
established  in  March  2018  for  preparing  this  initiative.  The  following  DGs  and  services  were 
invited  to  the  inter-service  group  included:  Legal  Service  (SJ),  Budget  (BUDG),  Industry, 
Entrepreneurship and SMEs (GROW), Eurostat (ESTAT), and the Joint Research Center (JRC). 
The ISG met 3 times on 2 and 19 March 2018 and on 23 April 2018. 

During this period, the Commission undertook a broad public consultation between the 10th of 
January  and  the  8  of  March  2018.  As  decided  per  note  Ares  (2017)5408269  this  public 
consultation  was  organised  at  the  level  of  the  policy  cluster  "European  values  and  mobility" 
(including  Erasmus,  European  Values  &  Citizenship  programme(s)),  thus  supporting  several 
impact assessments. 

An  informal  upstream  meeting  was held  on 18 January 2018 with  RSB representatives and the 
participation  of  SG,  DG  BUDG  and  JRC.  During  this  discussion  Board  members  [and 
representatives of the horizontal Services] provided early feedback and advice on the basis of the 
inception  impact  assessment.  Board  members'  feedback  did  not  prejudge  in  any  way  the 
subsequent formal deliberations of the RSB.     

44 

 
  
 
3)  CONSULTATION OF THE RSB 

On 20/04/2018, Regulatory Scrutiny Board gave a positive opinion, by a written procedure, with a recommendation to further improve the report with respect to the 
following key aspects: 

Main consideration  from the board 

How it has been addressed 

(1) The report does not fully exploit the evaluation outcomes that would support the 
new design and functioning of the programme or its sub-programmes. 

The results of the mid-term evaluation have been duly taken into account.  As 
explained in section 1.2., all the evaluated programmes have shown clear added 
value.  As  explained  in  the  Impact  Assessment,  the  programmes  that  are 
considered  for  the  Values  cluster  have  several  commonalties.  They  lend 
themselves to the integration into a single Values cluster as they all deal with 
values  and  citizenship  issues  leading  to  a  more  coordinated  approach  in  this 
field as highlighted in the Commission's reflection paper on the EU's finances 
and in the mid- term evaluation. 
The  new  clustering  will  allow  to  further  exploit  the  potential  of  current 
programmes  to  promote  EU  values  and  increase  EU  added  value.  The  full 
exploitation of the interplay between cultural diversity, historical memory and 
the  potential  of  the  creative  sector  from  one  hand,  and  principles  such  as 
justice,  rights,  equality  and  anti-discrimination  from  the  other  hand,  is 
fundamental  in  this  model  and  will  be  possible  through  the  common 
denominator of citizenship.  

In the specific case of the European Culture, rights and values programme, this 
is  done  not  only  by  proposing  a  common  general  objective  that  will  act  as  a 
catalyst for the activities funded by the future programme. In addition, there is 
a  proposal  to  have  a  cross  strand  support  to  provide  for  and  accelerate  the 
synergies between the different strands of the programme and to support joint 
actions  having  a  stronger  impact  than  actions  delivered  by  each  strand  on  its 
own. 

45 

 
 
 
At  the  same  time,  following  the  results  of  the  mid-term  evaluations  of  the 
current  programmes,  the  proposed  model  acknowledges  and  maintains  the 
specificities  of  the  single  policies,  including  through  the  design  of  policy 
strands  that  will  be  visible  in  the  future  funding  regulation  of  the  European 
Culture, rights and values programme.  

This will allow taking into due consideration the distinctive nature of the 
policies who will compose the new programme(s) as well as the inherent 
specificities of the current programmes, such as the different scope of the legal 
basis and the existence of already well-defined and different targeted 
stakeholders who expect to recognize their own respective policy in the 
initiative. 
While it is expected that the overall initiative will increase the potential of the 
EU  to  act  to  promote  and  protect  Values  by  developing  synergies  between 
current funding Programmes, the proposed model acknowledges and maintains 
the  specificities  of  the  single  policies,  including  through  the  design  of  policy 
strands.  
The current equilibrium among all components of the Values cluster in terms of 
percentages  of  budget  received  by  the  various  policies  should  be  maintained 
and should be linked to the different strands in the case of the European culture, 
rights and values programme.  
It should however be specified that at the moment of finalising this document, 
the budgets proposed for the different policies was not known yet. 
There is no ranking of the priorities between the different pillars / strands of the 
proposed  framework  neither  between  the  policies  within  a  strand.  Given  the 
broad variety of policies represented in the future programme, a ranking would 
mean  affirming  that  for  instance  equality  and  rights  is  more  important  than 
culture  or  vice  versa,  which  would  result  into  an  arbitrary  decision  without 
soundly based arguments. In addition, this would also be a  choice difficult to 
communicate and explain to stakeholders.  

However,  the  design  of  the  future  programme  is  done  in  a  way  as  to  favour 
flexibility.  To  give  an  example,  the  proposed  specific  objectives  for  equality 

(2) The report does not explain why it keeps the current budget distribution between 
the components of the programme. In addition, it does not analyse the priorities 
within the different pillars of the programme, in particular in case of less funding. 

46 

 
 
and rights and for combating violence have been set at policy level in order to 
allows  enough  flexibility  in  the  phase  of  implementation  to  focus  on  specific 
priorities, to adapt to emerging issues, but also to face a scarcity of funding (i.e. 
by  alternating  calls  for  proposals  of  different  policy  areas  every  other  year). 
This  choice  was  informed  by  the  results  of    the  mid-term  evaluation  of  the 
Justice  and  REC  programmes  which  found  that  that  the  general  nature  of  the 
two Programmes and their broad specific objectives made it possible to ensure 
operational  flexibility,  allowing  adapting  their  priorities  in  the  light  of 
emerging needs in order to address the most relevant issues. 

The  architecture  of  the  EU  values  framework  provides  a  straightforward 
simplification,  from  four  current  funding  programmes  to  only  two  funding 
programmes in the future. 
The creation of a cross strand support within the European Culture, Rights and 
Values programmes will allow an improved implementation notably as regards 
communication  on  the  programmes  and  dissemination  of  the  results  and  will 
help  address  issues  encountered  by  applicants  providing  information  on  the 
programmes  including  on  the  way  to  apply  and  on  the  possibility  to  build 
partnerships.  
The  impact  assessment  explains  the  main  reasons  why  it  is  proposed  to 
maintain the management of the funding concerning DG JUST policies within 
the  DG  without  delegating  them  to  an  executive  agency.  In  particular,  DG 
JUST has highly invested to manage the programme internally, as compared to 
other  DGs  that  have  "externalised"  this  investment  delegating  the  programme 
implementation  to  executive  agencies.  DG  JUST  has  invested  a  lot  in  recent 
years to adapt its internal expertise not only to the necessary knowledge of the 
policies, but also and especially to adapt to the project management corporate 
tools,  SYGMA/COMPASS.  This  is  not  the  case  of  other  DGs  with  a 
decentralised implementation. In this respect and in this context, preserving the 
internal expertise does not have the same value across the Commission board. 
The proposal to maintain the internal execution of the DG JUST policies is the 
preferred alternative, so as to avoid wasting the investment done until now. 

(3) The report does not clearly substantiate the expected impacts of the changes in 
delivery mechanisms, in particular in terms of simplification for beneficiaries. 

47 

 
 
(4) The report does not sufficiently inform decision makers of the potential risks, 
pros, cons and trade-offs associated with the proposed programme. 

As explained in box 2 above and in section 3.1.2., it is expected that the overall 
initiative  will  increase  the  potential  of  the  EU  to  act  to  promote  and  protect 
Values  by  developing  synergies  between  current  funding  Programmes. 
Nevertheless the specificities of the single policies need to be maintained. The 
distinctive  nature  of  the  policies  who  will  compose  the  new  programme(s)  as 
well  as  the  inherent  specificities  of  the  current  programmes,  such  as  the 
different scope of the legal basis and the existence of already well-defined and 
different  targeted  stakeholders  who  expect  to  recognize  their  own  respective 
policy in the initiative need to be taken into due consideration. 
A balance needs to be struck between on the one hand simplification, increased 
synergies and greater flexibility and those specificities on the other hand. 
The  proposed  architecture,  with  distinctive  strands  allows  to  ensure  this 
balance. 

48 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4)  EVIDENCE, SOURCES AND QUALITY 

Mid-term  evaluations  of  the  current  programmes  and  final  evaluation  of  the  predecessor 
programmes have been used as a main source of evidence for this impact assessment:  

Europe for Citizens programme and predecessor:  

 

 

Mid-term  evaluation  of  the  Europe  for  Citizens  programme  2007-2013,  see: 
http://ec.europa.eu/citizenship/pdf/ecorys-_final_report_europe_for_citizens_en.pdf 
and  http://ec.europa.eu/citizenship/europe-for-citizens-programme/programme-2007-
2013/index_en.htm  
Ex  post  evaluation  of  the  Europe  for  Citizens  programme  2007-2013,  see: 
http://ec.europa.eu/citizenship/pdf/final_efcp_final_report_2015_10_15.pdf 
and 
http://ec.europa.eu/citizenship/pdf/evaluationreportefc2007-2013_en.pdf 

Creative Europe programme and predecessor:  

 

The mid-term evaluation of the Creative Europe programme should be adopted on early 
April 2018. 

For  the  REC  and  Justice  programme  the  mid-term  evaluation  are  still  on-going  and  will  be 
published by June 2018. Preliminary results have been used. Predecessor programmes: 

 

Ex-post  evaluation  of  five  programmes  implemented  under  the  2007-2013  financial 
perspective: 
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/grants1/files/expost_evaluations_2007_2013/daphne_program
me_evaluation__final_report.pdf 

The  Commission  additionally  drew  on  studies  and  reports  that  are  listed  below  as  well  as  on 
policy documents from European Institutions that are listed in annex 6: 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

report  of  September  2017,  p.138, 

Deloitte  and  Coffey's  mid-term  evaluation 
http://ec.europa.eu/citizenship/europe-for-citizens-programme/studies/index_en.htm 
https://www.tui-stiftung.de/en/media/young-europe-2017-the-youth-study-of-tui-
foundation/ 
2015 Eurobarometer on electoral rights 
http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/archives/eb/eb83/eb83_citizen_en.pdf 
EU Citizenship Report 2017 

http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2016/eumidis-ii-roma-selected-findings 

Fundamental  Rights  Agency  (2014),  Violence  against  women:  an  EU-wide  survey 
http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra-2014-vaw-survey-main-results-apr14_en.pdf  

2017 report on equality between women and men 

Impact  assessment  accompanying  the  communication  for  a  proposal  of  a  directive 
establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime 
and  for  proposal  for  a  regulation  on  mutual  recognition  of  protection  measures  in  civil 
matters, SEC(2011) 580 final of 18.5.2011; Impact assessment accompanying the proposal 
for a directive on the rights of access to a lawyer and of notification of custody to a third 
person in criminal proceedings, SEC(2011) 686 final of 8.6.2011. 

 

Ivana  Katsarova  (2014)  European  Parliamentary  Research  Service,  ‘Briefing:  An 
Overview of Europe’s Film Industry’, pp. 545,705 

49 

 
 

 

EU  Justice  Scoreboard    COM(2017)  167  final  https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/justice-
and-fundamental-rights/effective-justice/eu-justice-scoreboard_en. 

http://ec.europa.eu/COMMFrontOffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/Survey/getSurveyDetail/i
nstruments/SPECIAL/surveyKy/2077 

50 

 
Annex 2: Stakeholder consultations  

The consultation strategy supporting this impact assessment included a public consultation done 
in the framework of the proposal for the post 2020 MFF in the area of values and mobility, public 
consultations  done  in  the  framework  of  the  mid-term  evaluation  of  the  current  funding 
programmes and several ad'hoc consultations organised by the Commission in form of roundtable 
discussions with stakeholders, conferences and seminars on the issues covered by this IA. The IA 
largely builds on the outcome of these consultations with stakeholders. 

THE OPEN PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON EU FUNDS IN THE AREA OF VALUES AND MOBILITY 

The  purpose  of  the  public  consultation  on  EU  funds  in  the  area  of  values  and  mobility  was  to 
collect  the  views  of  all  interested  parties  on  how  to  make  the  most  of  every  euro  of  the  EU 
budget.  Consultations  have  taken  place  in  the  context  of  evaluations  of  existing  EU  financial 
programmes  covering  several  policy  areas,  including  on  current  performance  and  future 
challenges. It was available from 10 January 2018 to 9 March 2018 in 23 official EU languages.  

1. Overview of the replies  

In response to the online public consultation on EU funds in the area of values and mobility the 
Commission received a total of 1839 replies from all over Europe.  

There  was  at  least  one  response  received  from  each  Member  State,  The  country  of  residence 
with the most overall contributions is Germany (24, 4 %), followed by France (8, 7%), Belgium 
(7,7%) and Spain (5,4%).  

Of  the  1839  contributions  received  via  the  online  questionnaire,  65,2  %  (1199)  were  made  on 
behalf of organisations and 34,8 % (640) by individuals. 

A  wide  range  of  stakeholders  shared  their  opinions:  of  those  1199  contributions  on  behalf  of 
organisations,  355  (19,  3  %)  were  from  Non-Governmental  Organisations,  platforms  or 
networks,  270  (14,  7%)  from  private  enterprises  (above  all  micro  and  small  enterprises)  and 
127  (6,9%)  from  researchers  and  academics.  The  following  graph  shows  the  type  of 
organisations which have taken part in this consultation. 

51 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2. Analysis of the results 

On the following pages, the analysis will focus on the respondents who have experience with the 
following EU programmes: 1. Europe for Citizens Programme (EfC) and /or 2. Rights, Equality 
and  Citizenship  Programme  (REC)  and  /or  3.  Creative  Europe  Programme  and  /or  4.  Justice 
Programme. The results of this public consultation will be presented question by question. 

52 

REC; 107EfC; 235Creative Europe; 789Justice; 65Number of active respondents who have experience with one or several of the 4 EU funding programmes  
 
 
The  Commission  has  preliminarily 
identified  a  number  of  policy  challenges  which 
programmes/funds  in  this  area  –  mobility  and  values  -  could  address.  How  important  are  these 
policy challenges in your view? 

According  to  the  respondents,  "Promote  European  identity  and  common  values"  as  well  as 
"promote rights and equality" are important common policy challenges (being one of the four 
first  challenges  mentioned)  to  be  addressed  in  each  of  the  four  programmes.  "Support  active 
citizenship,  democratic  participation  in  society  and  the  rule  of  law"  and  "Promote  social 
inclusion  and  fairness"  appear  to  be  important  challenges  to  be  addressed  in  the  concerned 
programmes as well but to a lesser extent in the Creative Europe programme for which economic 
challenges and cultural diversity are more important. 

53 

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%Support competitiveness ofEuropean cultural and creativesectorsSupport innovationFoster European cultural diversityand cultural heritagePromote solidarityPromote European identity andcommon valuesPromote social inclusion andfairnessPromote rights and equalitySupport active citizenship,democratic participation in societyand the rule of lawCHALLENGES TAHT COULD BE ADRESSED BY THE PROGRAMMESRECEfCCreative EuropeJustice 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
To what extent do the current policies successfully address these challenges? 

"Support  innovation",  "Foster  European  cultural  diversity  and  cultural  heritage", 
"Promote  European  identity  and  common  values"  are  considered  as  policies  that  fully  or 
fairly  well  address  the  challenges  by  half  or  more  of  the  respondents  experienced  in  the  four 
concerned programmes. Additionally 52 % of the respondent experienced in the Creative Europe 
programme  consider  that  the  policy  to  "Support  competitiveness  of  European  cultural  and 
creative sectors" fully or fairly well address the challenges. 

54 

28%34%27%36%34%40%30%43%38%41%45%43%45%41%49%30%24%39%43%40%43%41%45%48%46%43%58%52%53%59%24%18%27%30%29%33%52%33%28%31%41%35%55%62%48%32%42%28%31%37%34%34%37%46%43%37%52%48%49%51%Promote consumercial interests and ensure high level of consumerprotectionReinforce the EU area of justice strengthening judicial cooperation Promote solidaritySupport active citizenship, democratic participation in society, and the ruleof law Promote social inclusion and fairnessPromote modernisation of education and trainingSupport competitiveness of European cultural and creative sectors Promote cooperation between education and training and labour marketactorsSupport employability through lifelong learning mobility Promote rights and equalitySupport digitalisation and digital transformationSupport lifelong skills development through learning mobility Promote European identity and common valuesFoster European cultural diversity and cultural heritage Support innovationCurrent policies fairly well or fully address the challenges RECEfCCreativeEuropeJustice 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
To  what  extent  do  the  current  programmes/funds  add  value,  compared  to  what  Member  States 
could achieve at national, regional and/or local levels? 

Around  80%  the  respondents  experienced  in  the  four  above  mentioned  EU  Programmes  agree 
that  these  programmes  add  value  to  a  large  extent  or  to  a  fairly  good  extent  to  what  Member 
States could achieve at national, regional and/or local levels.  

55 

34%42%30%35%49%42%49%46%0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%EUROPE FOR CITIZENS RIGHTS, EQUALITY AND CITIZENSHIP CREATIVE EUROPE JUSTICE ADDED VALUE EU PROGRAMMESTO A FAIRLY GOOD EXTENTTO A LARGE EXTENT 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Commission has preliminarily identified a number of possible obstacles which could prevent 
the current programmes/funds from achieving their objectives. To what extent do they apply in 
your view? 

identified  by 

The  main  obstacles 
the  current 
programmes/funds from achieving their objectives are very similar regardless of the programme 
concerned:  "Lack  of  budget  of  the  programmes  to  satisfy  demand";  "Insufficient  support 
provided  to  small-scale  stakeholders";  "Lack  of  support  to  first-time  applicants"  are 
identified as the main three obstacles. 

that  could  prevent 

respondents 

the 

56 

25%30%32%36%41%39%36%40%39%46%45%49%61%62%24%39%38%37%34%51%49%49%53%50%51%56%71%74%21%19%23%22%27%35%33%44%36%31%34%39%49%75%26%34%37%37%45%40%46%37%45%51%49%54%57%66%Too narrow geographical scope of theprogrammesLanguage obstaclesObstacles to mutual recognition of study ortraining periods abroad and qualificationsInsufficient information and guidanceTarget groups too restrictedLack of coordination with other funds andsectoral policiesInsufficient outreach towards potential partnersLow value of individual grantsInsufficient use of results of individual projectsLimited possibilities for funding actions acrossthe sectors of education, training and youthLack of dedicated instruments to address newor specific needsLack of support to first-time applicantsInsufficient support provided to small-scalestakeholdersLack of budget of the programmes to satisfydemandMAIN OBSTACLES RECEfCCreative EuropeJustice 
 
 
 
The Commission has preliminarily identified a number of steps that could help to further simplify 
and  reduce  administrative  burdens  for  beneficiaries  under  current  programmes/funds.  To  what 
extent would these steps be helpful in your view? 

The following diagram shows that the  respondents,  with experience in one or  more of the  four 
EU  Programmes,  agree  that  "the  use  of  more  simplified  application  forms",  "facilitating 
structured network and partnerships", "facilitating funding  for actions cutting across the 
sectors of action" as well as "better coordination between different programmes/funds" are 
the main steps to be taken to simplify and reduce the administrative burdens for beneficiaries. 

The other steps proposed by the Commission also score quite high in the replies related to each funding 
programmes. We can note:  

  Higher  involvement  of  stakeholders  in  programme  implementation  as  regards  respondents 

 

 

experience with the Creative Europe programme 
"Simpler  access  for  "new-comer"  applicants  and  smaller/grass-root  organisations"  as  regards 
respondents experience with the EfC and the Justice programme. 
and "incentives for people with fewer opportunities" as regards respondents experience with the 
REC programme. 

57 

48%56%59%71%69%71%66%75%69%60%67%67%74%70%71%73%76%81%61%55%63%54%50%53%60%69%75%54%63%69%63%72%71%71%65%80%Clearer focus/prioritiesIncreased dissemination and betterexploitation of resultsHigher involvement of stakeholders inprogramme implementationBetter coordination between different  programmes/fundsIncentives for people with feweropportunitiesFacilitating funding for actions cuttingacross the sectors of actionSimpler access for "new-comer" applicantsand smaller/grass-root organisationsFacilitating structured networks andpartnershipsUse of more simplified application forms,reports and grant selection processSteps to reduce administrative burden RECEfCCreativeEuropeJustice 
 
 
RIGHTS, EQUALITY CITIZENSHIP 

The  open  consultation  on  the  mid-term  evaluation  of  the  REC  programme  could  not  be  done 
given that the open consultation on "EU funds in the area of values and mobility" was launched 
on the 18 of January 2018. However a number of consultations in different format (roundtables, 
workshops,  forum;  open  online  consultations;  targeted  online  surveys  or  questionnaire)  and 
related  to  the  different  policy  fields  covered  by  the  REC  have  been  done  and  are  summarised 
below:  

On REC Programme /future priorities in general  

A targeted round of informal consultations carried out in early 2018 with key stakeholders (EU 
and national based civil society organisations, networks of national human rights bodies,  major 
donors,  international  organisations),  in  the  context  of  2018  EP  preparatory  action  aimed  at 
"creating an EU fund for awareness raising and legal assistance to individuals and civil society 
organisations  litigating  democracy,  rule  of  law  and  fundamental  rights  violations  […]"58 
indicated the following feedback: 

a) 

there is a need to ensure that funding supports the capacity building and empowerment of 
human  rights  bodies  and  civil  society  organisations  working  on  the  enforcement  and 
promotion of EU law and values, including the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights;  
b)  it  is  important  to  fund  concrete  activities  and  coalition  building  even  if  projects  do  not 

c) 

have a cross-border element;  
the threshold for accessing funds should be accessible and funding be flexible enough to 
reach specific objectives. 

On  combatting  racism,  xenophobia  and  other  forms  of  intolerance,  including  hate  speech 
online 

The  Annual  Colloquia  on  fundamental  rights  in  the  EU  in  2015  and  2016  were  devoted 
respectively to "Antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred in Europe" and  on "Media Pluralism and 
Democracy".  They  were  prepared  by  open  public  consultations  and  Eurobarometers.  The 
outcomes  of  the  Colloquia  in  2015  and  2016  fed  into  Conclusions  that  informed  the 
Commission's  response  on  these  policies,  including  funding  priorities  through  REC.  The 
following key actions were drawn from the discussions: a) empower those active at local level to 
build a culture of tolerance and respect, in particular through education; b) fight hate speech by 
working with IT companies, civil society and the media; c) ensure implementation of hate crime 
laws and new EU rules on protecting the rights of victims of crime and improve recording and 
data  collection  of  hate  crime  incidents;  d)  promote  diversity  and  enforce  and  strengthen  non-
discrimination  rules;  e)  protect  media  freedom  and  independence  from  political  pressure; 
safeguard the financial independence of the media in the European Union; f) protect journalists 
and  their  freedom  of  expression;  g)  promote  a  healthy  political  debate  and  lasting  political 
engagement through media literacy, media ethics and media pluralism. 

On Rights of the Child   

In  April  2014,  the  Commission  conducted  a  public  consultation  on  integrated  child  protection 
systems,  further  to  which  it  drew  up  10  Principles  for  integrated  child  protection  systems,  and 
they were presented at the 2015 European Forum on the rights of the child. Both the consultation 
results and the 10 principles are embedded in funding priorities.  

58 

 
Every year, the European Forum on the rights of the child gathers hundreds of stakeholders from 
NGOs,  public  authorities  and  international  organisations.  The  Forum  discussions  inform  policy 
including  funding  priorities.  The  2016  Forum  led  to  concrete  EU  policy  developments  on  the 
protection  of  children  in  migration  (See  12  April  Communication)  and  Council  conclusions 
which stressed the importance, amongst other actions, of allocating adequate EU funds (including 
through  REC)  to  actions  on  the  protection  of  migrant  children  and  support  to  integrated  child 
protection  systems.  Similar  connections  between  stakeholder  consultations,  policy  and  funding 
happened  in  2017  on  deprivation  of  liberty  of  children  and  the  promotion  of  alternatives  to 
detention for children. 

On disability  

An  open  public  consultation  on  the  mid-term  review  of  the  European  Disability  Strategy  was 
open between 22.12.2015 and 18.03.2016. As this Strategy is the main implementation tool of the 
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) – to which the 
EU  is  a  party  –  the  results  of  the  consultation  can  also  inform  on  the  impact  of  the  REC 
programme  on  the  specific  objective:  "to  promote  and  protect  the  rights  of  persons  with 
disabilities".  The  results  of  the  public  consultation  clearly  showed  that  the  situation  of  people 
with  disabilities  remains  challenging  in  terms  of  participation  in  everyday  activities,  rights, 
employment,  accessibility,  discrimination  and  mobility  within  the  EU.  9.84%  of  individual 
respondents  and  13.21%  of  organisations  mentioned  "the  use  of  EU  funding"  as  the  most 
determining factor in achieving progress for people with disabilities. 

In  addition  to  the  consultation,  disabled  people's  organisations  and  people  with  disabilities  are 
regularly invited  to directly exchange with the Commission through  a number of  major  events, 
such as the annual Work Forum on the implementation of the UNCRPD, the High Level Group 
on  Disability,  the  European  Day  of  People  with  Disabilities  Conference  or  the  Annual 
Convention  for  Inclusive  Growth.  Throughout  the  year,  the  Commission  also  organises  regular 
strategic  dialogue  meetings  on  specific  initiatives  relevant  to people  with  disabilities,  including 
funding  issues.  Representative  organisations  of  people  with  disabilities  have  shared  on  many 
occasions  the  need  for  adequate  EU  funds  –  including  the  REC  programme  -  to  promote  and 
protect the rights of people with disabilities and implement the UNCRPD. 

On equality between women and men  

Public consultation on the follow-up of the Strategy for equality between women and men 2010-
2015  took  place  between  21  April  and  22  July  2015.  Almost  5000  contributions  from  across 
Europe of which 1408 online contributions by organisations and 3488 by individuals. The high 
response  to  this  public  consultation,  the  Special  Eurobarometer  Survey  428  (March  2015),  the 
Forum  on  the  Future  of  Gender  Equality59,  an  opinion  by  the  Advisory  Committee  on  equal 
opportunities  for  women  and  men60  combined  give  depth  and  width  to  the  feedback  from 
stakeholders as an important source of information in order to identify priorities for future policy 
action  in  the  field  of  gender  equality  at  EU  level.  An  overwhelming  percentage  of  the 
organisations,  93.9%,  considered  the  priorities  laid  out  in  the  Strategy  for  equality  between 
women and men as remaining valid or partially valid, indicating a strong support for continuing 
future policy work on gender equality. Many of the organisations which participated in the public 
consultation represented a large number of member organisations, interest groups and associated 
individuals, or were official institutions within Member States, therefore representing significant 
numbers of European citizens. In this vein, the results of the consultation prioritised themes to be 
tackled by the European Commission as follows:  

59 

 
1. Women being paid less than men for the same work or work of equal value,  

2. The small number of women in positions of power in politics and businesses,  

3. Facing prejudice because of preconceived ideas about the image and role of women and men,  

4. Gender-based violence,  

5. Widespread violation of women's rights worldwide,  

6. The unequal sharing of caring and household tasks between men and women.   

Other  important  themes  were  clustered  into  the  following  topics:  governance,  gender 
mainstreaming, education, care, labour market, role of media, and the role of men, among many 
others. 

On the Evaluation of the Roma Framework 

The  public  consultation  on  the  EU  Framework  for  National  Roma  Integration  Strategies  up  to 
202061  ran  from  19  July  2017  to  25  October  2017.  A  key  objective  of  the  consultation  was  to 
collect  views  on  the  implementation  of  the  EU  Framework  for  National  Roma  Integration 
Strategies launched in 2011 and running until 2020. The public consultation notably asked about 
key  priorities  for  the  European  and  national  level  to  which  extra  efforts  should  be  attributed. 
Respondents  consistently  stated  that  both  EU  institutions  and  national  authorities  should  work 
together  to  develop  measures  to  improve  Roma  inclusion.  They  see  a  stronger  role  for  the  EU 
than for national authorities in the area of monitoring and enforcing European non-discrimination 
and  anti-racism  legislation  and  making  access  to  funding  conditional  to  developing  and 
implementing ambitious Roma policies. National authorities are expected to play a bigger role in 
measures  such  as  community  building  between  Roma  and  non-Roma,  non-discrimination  and 
Roma  inclusion  training  for  public  officials,  making  Roma  history  and  culture  part  of  school 
curricula, as well as providing policy guidance to authorities. 

EUROPE FOR CITIZENS  

Public consultation 

In the context of the mid-term evaluation  of Europe for Citizens,  a public consultation  through 
the Commission's website was organised between January and April 201762. The purpose of the 
consultation  was  to  collect  insights  on  the  Europe  for  Citizens  programme  from  the  general 
public and from programme stakeholders.  

The 322 replies received showed63 that the Europe for Citizens programme has been perceived as 
dealing with important issues such as strengthening European citizenship, improving citizens' and 
democratic participation at EU level and raising awareness of shared history and shared values. 
Its offer is considered to be unique as it supports citizen-led projects in which ordinary citizens 
are the protagonists of the action. The current budget of 186 million EUR was assessed as being 
insufficient  to  match  the  ambitious  objectives  of  the  programme.  It  was  suggested  to  consider 
long-term synergies with Erasmus+ and the Creative Europe programme. The limited visibility of 
Europe for Citizens was seen as a factor hindering the involvement of relevant stakeholders and 
communication identified as an area for improvement.  

60 

 
 
 
Civil dialogue 

In addition to the public consultation, the Commission consulted stakeholders represented in the 
civil dialogue at their annual meeting of 28 June 2017. Members of the civil dialogue expressed 
large support for the Europe for Citizens programme considering it as an important programme to 
consolidate  and  strengthen  pro-European  forces.  They  underlined  the  necessity  for  a  strong 
support to civil society, notably on a financial point of view and insisted on the necessity to keep 
the operating grants as part of the programme. The definition of multiannual priorities for project 
grants was considered as a positive step increasing the impact of project results. 

Europe for Citizens Contact Points 

In December 2017, the Europe for Citizens Contact Points adopted a joint statement confirming 
their  strong  support  for  the  continuation  of  Europe  for  Citizens  as  an  independent  programme 
after  2020  and  recommending  the  strengthening  of  the  position,  funding  and  visibility  of  the 
programme. Based on their experience at the national level, they consider the Europe for Citizens 
programme as an important tool to foster European identity, to understand other cultures and to 
defend common values. 
The next Europe for Citizens programme should retain its current structure but widen the variety 
of  mechanisms  for  civic  participation  in  the  Union  policy  making  processes.  To  maximize  its 
impact, the programme should focus on more specific priorities and allow for greater flexibility 
in the structure of projects. In terms of visibility, Contact Points support the creation of synergies 
between  action  and  operating  grant  beneficiaries  in  order  to  facilitate  the  visibility  of 
programme’s results.  

European Parliament 

In  March  2017,  the  European  Parliament  adopted  its  first  implementation  report  on  Europe  for 
Citizens64 based on an external and an internal study and on focussed stakeholder consultations. 
In  the  report,  the  European  Parliament  underlined  its  support  for  the  Europe  for  Citizens 
programme stressing the valuable role the programme has proven to play in different policy areas 
and  calling  for  an  increased  budget  to  improve  success  rates.  The  streamlined  two-strand 
structure  of  the  programme  and  the  introduction  of  multi-annual  priorities  are  welcomed  as 
allowing  a  narrower,  but  more  focussed  scope.  A  more  targeted  communication  strategy  and 
increased synergies between both strands of the programme should be developed. In view of the 
preparation of the future programme, the European Parliament requested the use of a legal basis 
allowing for the co-decision procedure. 

CREATIVE EUROPE 

An  open  public  consultation  (OPC)  was  launched  during  the  mid-term  evaluation  of  Creative 
Europe  Programme  and  took  place  from  23  January  to  24  April  2017.  Furthermore,  targeted 
surveys  were  conducted  among  the  beneficiaries  of  the  programme.  The  objective  of  the  OPC 
and the two targeted surveys was to gather comments and perspectives to help the assessment of 
the  relevance,  coherence,  effectiveness,  sustainability,  efficiency  and  added  value  of  the 
Programme.  The  OPC  also  included  forward  looking  questions  regarding  a  possible  successor 
programme to Creative Europe after 202065.    

The OPC questionnaire was published on ‘Your Voice in Europe’ online platform, in English. A 
total  of  557  responses  were  received  during  the  consultation  period.  The  MEDIA  and  Culture 

61 

 
surveys  collected  a  total  of  839  responses  (400  and  439  responses  respectively)  from  the 
beneficiaries of the current Programme . 

Concerning the Culture Sub-programme: 

Relevance:  Overall,  around  90%  of  the  respondents  believe  that  most  priorities  of  the  Culture 
Sub-programme are still relevant or extremely relevant. 

Coherence:  More  than  a  half  of  the  OPC  respondents  agreed  that  the  support  provided  by  the 
Culture  Sub-programme  is  either  fully  or  partially  complementary  to  national,  EU  and 
international  funding.  The  results  of  Culture  survey  show  that  the  Sub-programme  funding  is 
largely complementary with national policy support. 

Effectiveness:  Respondents  agree  that  the  Culture  Sub-programme  is  largely  effective  in 
facilitating  the  professional  opportunities  of  cultural  and  creative  players  by  supporting 
organisations  and  international  networking,  and  in  supporting  the  circulation  of  European 
literature.  

Efficiency: Two thirds of the OPC respondents believed that the results of the Creative Europe 
Culture Sub-programme could not have been achieved using less funding.  

EU  added  value:  For  a  small  majority  of  the  OPC  respondents  the  Creative  Europe’s  Culture 
Sub-programme has complemented existing actions on national, European or international level 
by  supporting  cultural  subsectors  or  operators  that  would  not  have  received  support  otherwise 
and  contributed  to  improving  the  national,  European  or  international  support  measures  for  the 
cultural and creative sectors.  

Next to the results of the mid-term evaluation, feed-back and reflexion input was systematically 
gathered in meetings and events with Creative Europe Desks or projects, in targeted fora such as 
the Music Moves Europe Forum since 2015 or other public sectoral events but also a dedicated 
study  by  the  European  Parliament.  They  largely  confirmed  the  above  results  of  the  mid-term 
evaluation and pointed to certain gaps such as specifically targeted support for music, a certain 
need of operating grants or the need to revisit co-funding amounts and mechanisms. 

Concerning the MEDIA Sub-programme: 

In  the  2017  mid-term  evaluation  of  Creative  Europe,  stakeholders  from  across  the  audiovisual 
value chain were consulted (producers, distributors, cinema exhibitors, VOD providers, festivals, 
associations)  as  well  as  education/training  bodies  and  Member  States  bodies,  through  direct 
interviews and a survey as well as through an open public consultation.   

Over  90%  of  respondents  to  the  open  public  consultation  agreed  that  the  current  MEDIA 
priorities,  with  the  existing  schemes,  were  still  relevant  to  the  challenges  of  the  sector.    At  the 
same  time,  about  half  of  respondents,  from  across  the  value  chain,  suggest  that  a  successor 
programme  from  2021-2027  should  adopt  new  priorities,  such  as  focusing  more  on  audiences, 
creativity and development, skills, digitalisation in distribution and production, new technologies, 
social  innovation  and  inclusion  as  well  as  gender  equality  and  diversity.  68%  of  respondents 
agreed  or  fully  agreed  on  the  fact  that  MEDIA  has  contributed  to  improving  the  national, 
European  or  international  support  measures  for  the  audiovisual  sector.  64%  agreed  or  fully 
agreed  on  the  fact  that  MEDIA  has  contributed  to  complementing  existing  actions  at  national, 

62 

 
European, or international level by enabling industry collaboration across borders and across the 
value chain. 

Concerning delivery mechanisms, the great majority of the audiovisual stakeholders (91%) called 
for an increased budget to maximize the impact of the successor programme. An increased focus 
on  capacity-building  activities  (60%)  was  also  seen  as  important.  Other  suggestions  were  an 
increased focus on market instruments (52%) and better defined priorities (51%). A fair share of 
respondents called for better access for newcomers and increased coordination and synergy with 
other EU programmes.  

The mid-term evaluation also fully took into account the discussions of the European Film Forum 
(EFF), which was launched in 2015 as a framework for a strategic dialogue with the audiovisual 
industry.    The  December  2016  conclusions  of  the  EFF  highlighted  the  transformation  of  the 
audiovisual landscape and the new challenges as well as opportunities for the industry.  Through 
the EFF, a number of priority areas of action emerged from the discussions with stakeholders: the 
need  to  invest  in  talent  and  skills;  audiovisual  storytelling  must  embrace  innovation;  access  to 
content  across  borders  should  be  further  fostered;  promotion  is  key  to  reaching  audiences; 
financing models need to be reinvented.   

Also, a structured dialogue with stakeholders was launched in 2017 to ensure effective delivery 
of  MEDIA  support  to  access  and  circulation  of  EU  works.    This  dialogue  allowed  different 
technical solutions to be explored, taking into account the realities faced by audiovisual SMEs.   
Proposals discussed include increasing the focus on promotion costs in order to make European 
films more visible to their potential audiences. Also, the impact of the support could be increased 
and the administrative overheads could be minimised by reducing the number of small grants and 
grouping the grants into one agreement where possible. 

Furthermore, a dialogue between Member States was launched in 2017 to improve the circulation 
of European films is being undertaken through the Open Method of Coordination (OMC), with 
the support of the Commission.     

JUSTICE 

The open consultation on the mid-term evaluation of the JUSTICE programme could not be done 
given that the open consultation on "EU funds in the area of values and mobility" was launched 
on the 18 of January 2018. However a number of consultations in different format (roundtables, 
workshops,  forum;  open  online  consultations;  targeted  online  surveys  or  questionnaire)  and 
related to the different policy fields covered by the JUSTICE programme have been done and are 
summarised below:  

On European Judicial training: 

A  2017  European  Parliament  workshop  on  "The  Training  of  Judges  and  Legal  Practitioners  - 
Ensuring the Full Application of EU Law" highlighted the following key findings: 

The European Judicial Training Network (EJTN) good practices in judicial training  

The challenges in European judicial training have been identified by EJTN whilst performing its 
activities.  They  include  in  particular  the  lengthy  internal  procedures  for  the  appointment  of 
participants  to  be  trained  abroad,  insufficient  dissemination  of  information  about  the  trainings 
that are available, lack of recognition of participation in training abroad, absence of international 

63 

 
components  in  the  national  training  curricula,  workload,  language  barriers,  lack  of  correlation 
between training attended and tasks assigned, and national training schemes/procedures making 
participation virtually impossible. 

Having identified presidents of courts and heads of prosecution offices as the key actors, and at 
the  same  time  as  potential  addressees  of  its  training  activities,  steps  were  undertaken  to  tailor 
training activities for this group as a way to overcome the above-mentioned challenges. One of 
these specific activities is the exchanges dedicated to judicial leaders. 

Key findings on the training of lawyers -  Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) 
training committee  

  Training of lawyers is crucial in building a European Judicial Culture. 
  Support is needed to boost initial and continuous training initiatives. 
  Work  is  ongoing  to  promote  mutual  recognition  of  training,  so  as  to  facilitate  cross-

border training and to build a truly common European judicial culture. 

  Two major training projects have been carried out with EU funding: 
o  The creation of a European Training Platform, and 
o  The study on the state of play of lawyers’ training in EU law. 

The  training  of  court  staff  and  bailiffs  at  European  Union  level  -European  Institute  of  Public 
Administration – Luxembourg 

Aspects of EU law are becoming more important as more and more EU legislative instruments 
are being adopted. A practical understanding of the relevance and impact of EU legislation on the 
daily work of court staff and bailiffs is essential to ensure good quality of justice in the European 
Union.  

Different  methods  of  training  have  been  implemented  during  continuous  training  of  court  staff 
and  bailiffs,  such  as  e-learning,  blended  learning  and  face-to-face  activities.  In  addition,  tailor 
made  activities  to  train  the  trainers  in  EU  law  is  an  optimal  solution  to  guarantee  sustainable 
cross-border cooperation. 

Recommendations addressed to the different structures that are responsible for setting the general 
context and organisation of training of court staff and bailiffs aim to develop national and cross-
border cooperation among training providers. To strengthen judicial training in order to guarantee 
the uniform application of EU law in the European Union, new initiatives must be supported by 
national judicial authorities as well as European programmes 

On awareness activities on the Charter of Fundamental Rights 

Following a first high level Conference on the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights 
by  national  practitioners  organised  by  the  European  Commission  in  December  2014,  a  further 
multi-stakeholder  conference  on  the  awareness  of  the  EU  Charter  of  Fundamental  Rights  was 
also organised by the Dutch Presidency in early 2016. Participants indicated as a priority the need 
to  step  up  capacity,  knowledge  and  awareness  on  the  EU  Charter  of  Fundamental  Rights 
primarily of judges and legal professionals but also of national duty bearers (such as ministries, 
police, national parliaments).  This priority has been reiterated by Council conclusions (last one 
in  time  on  12  October  2017  ("The  Council  recalls  the  importance  of  awareness-raising  on  the 
application  of  the  Charter  at  national  as  well  as  at  EU  level  among  policymakers,  legal 

64 

 
practitioners and the rights holders themselves".) Currently the Justice Programme only allows to 
fund awareness and training activities for judges and legal professionals. 

. 

65 

 
Annex 3: Evaluation results 

RIGHTS, EQUALITY AND CITIZENSHIP  

Overall Strategy and Priorities of the REC Programme 

The preliminary findings of the 2018 mid-term evaluation of the REC programme66 show that 
the problems and drivers underlying the General Objective and Specific Objectives of the REC 
Programme  are  still  relevant.  However,  within  the  SO  “Prevent  and  Combat  all  Forms  of 
Violence”,  there  is  room  for  enhancing  the  focus  on  emerging  needs  such  as  e-violence  or 
domestic violence  

The intervention strategy of the Programme is still adequate to achieving the desired objectives 
and still relevant to the needs of the beneficiaries, as confirmed by the fact that more than 60% of 
surveyed beneficiaries and stakeholders indicated that funding received is effective to a high or 
very high extent.  

The  transnational  dimension  represents  a  key  feature  and  an  important  added  value  of  the 
European funding for the REC Programme, promoting the exchange of information at EU level 
as well as mutual learning and the dissemination of practices in the area of protection of rights, 
citizenship  and  anti-discrimination.  For  instance,  with  regard  to  the  SO  on  data  protection, 
stakeholders  from  countries  where  no  initiatives  are  taken  at  the  national  level,  consider  EU 
action  as  necessary  since  it  would  be  impossible,  without  the  Programme’s  support  to  ensure 
awareness raising - especially of companies dealing with data protection issues - on the content 
of the 2016 Data Protection Reform (Regulation (EU) 2016/679). In terms of added value of the 
REC Programme compared to national policies, eighty-three percent of beneficiaries responding 
to the relevant question of the survey, believe that the Programme’s funded activities would have 
not been possible through single Member State action.  

Structure and synergies of the REC Programme 

There  are  several  areas  of  complementarities  between  the  objectives  and  interventions  of  the 
REC programme and other EU funded instruments/programmes. These include, for example: 

  The Erasmus+ initiative, and its actions in fields such as citizenship and LGBT rights; 

  Interventions  funded  through  the  European  Social  Fund  under  Thematic  Objectives  8  and  9 
(for  what  concerns  the  promotion  of  gender  equality  and  equal  opportunities  in  the  labour 
market, antidiscrimination and active inclusion of socially vulnerable groups); 

  Axis I of the EasI programme (PROGRESS strand) for what concerns social inclusion and the 

support to mobility and mobile workers in relation to the SO of EU Citizenship.  

However,  these  potential  overlap  do  not  necessarily  represent  a  weakness  of  the  overall 
Intervention Logic – as long as areas of overlapping provide for synergies and complementarities.  

Delivery mechanisms of the REC Programme  

66 

 
 
The typologies of implementing  measures (Operating Grants,  Action  Grants,  Direct  Grants and 
Procurement) are in line with the objectives of the Programme and with the needs of stakeholders 
eligible for support. 

 Operating Grants represent a key funding source for many organisations benefiting from it and 
their  financial  allocation  should  be  maintained.  Many  organisations,  especially  NGOs,  would 
prefer  a  larger  EU  co-financing  rate.  The  duration  of  Operating  Grants  could  be  extended  to 
cover at least two years (instead of one); this will reduce the administrative burden – in terms of 
both applying and reporting - on beneficiaries and EC officials alike. 

The  possibility  to  use  Direct  Grants  –  granted  without  call  for  proposals  –  makes  it  possible 
provide a timely response to emergencies as proved by the direct grants provided to international 
organisations  in  the  area  of  protection  of  migrant  children.  Surveyed  beneficiaries  suggest  that 
scholarships  for  specific  vulnerable  groups  (e.g.  Roma  children)  could  also  be  considered  with 
the aim to favour social inclusion through cultural and economic empowerment. 

 The introduction of standard unit costs, at least for some typologies of activities (e.g. training), 
could  significantly  reduce  administrative  and  accounting  duties  on  beneficiaries  and  on  EC 
officials involved in management and control. 

System of indicators 

In terms of achievement of indicators, the progress of the indicators from the baseline value of 
several indicators shows that the target has already been achieved with regard to the perception of 
consumers of being protected and to the level of consumer confidence in cross-border shopping. 
The target is likely to be achieved with regard to the number of Europeans aware of their rights if 
they  fall  victims  of  discrimination.  In  this  regard  the  REC  Programme  has  the  potential  to 
contribute  to  achieving  the  targets  set  for  the  indicators  mentioned  above  if  awareness  of  the 
rights  of  victims  is  sought  through  adequate  training  activities  of  stakeholders  in  direct  contact 
with  victims  of  violence  (i.e.  social  assistants,  police  officers,  lawyers).  The  progress  of 
indicators  suggest  that  the  target  set  for  the  number  of  Member  States  that  set  up  structural 
coordination mechanisms on the implementation of the National Roma Integration Strategies and 
the share of the population that knows the meaning of “Citizenship of the Union” are likely to be 
met.  

The indicators selected for measuring the achievements of the Programme are overall adequate. 
However, the field research activities carried out up to now, suggest that the system of indicators 
can be further enriched so as to capture the whole range of expected results of the Programme. 
For instance, indicators capturing the improvement brought about by capacity building activities 
of public institutions’ staff, and NGOs in preventing non-discrimination, or in tackling cases of 
violence  could  be  added.  With  specific  regard  to  the  data  protection  SO,  given  the  strong  link 
between  REC  activities  and  the  awareness  and  compliance  with  the  2016  Data  Protection 
Reform, the level of awareness of the changes introduced by the Reform or the number of civil 
servants and companies participating in training on how to comply with the new regulation could 
be monitored. 

EUROPE FOR CITIZENS 

According  to  a  number  of  evaluations  and  studies  (ECOTEC,  ECORYS,  Euréval,  Coffey 
International, Deloitte67) carried out in the last 10 years, including the mid-term evaluation of the 
current programme68 the Europe for Citizens programme makes a strong impact on several levels:  

67 

 
 
 
  a  very  positive  impact  on  those  who  participate  in  the  projects  in  terms  of  their  European 
values  such  as  feeling  more  European,  feeling  more  solidarity  with  fellow  Europeans  and 
feeling more part of the European Union (77% of participants in the activities funded by the 
programme feel more solidarity with fellow Europeans and 69% feel more European). 

  a  relevant  transformative  impact  in  terms  of  attitudes  and  perceptions  of  citizens  who 
participate  in  the  programme  activities  as  they  develop  understanding  of  other  cultures  and 
enhanced  tolerance  towards  the  others  (92%  of  participants  in  the  activities  funded  by  the 
programme  confirm  that  they  learned  more  about  people’s  lives  in  the  countries  of  other 
participants, 77% learned more about European issues such as history, politics and culture). 

  a  strong  multiplier  effect  and  capacity  building  effect  on  civil  society  organisations 
manifested  through  the  extension  and  the  scale  and  scope  of  activities  but  also  through 
promoting innovation and knowledge sharing (88% of participants in the activities funded by 
the programme intend to talk to other people about their experience and 84% intend to take 
part in more events that strengthen links between different EU Member States). 

  impetus to the town twinning movement to think in broader European terms and developing 

links with themes or policy areas such as remembrance and civic participation; 

  allowing  policy  research  organisations  to  consider  European  dimensions  of  the  issues 

they address as well as developing their European networks, partnerships and debates; 

  positive contribution to the European culture of remembrance based on critical reflection 
(80%  of  participants  in  the  activities  supported  by  the  programme  feel  more  aware  of  a 
shared European culture, identity and heritage). 

  contributing to the development of European public space.   

At  least  1 100 000  citizens  per  year  have  been  directly  reached  by  Europe  for  Citizens  since 
2013.  During  the  same  period,  about  5 million  citizens  have  been  indirectly  impacted  by  the 
programme.69 

Results of the mid-term evaluation of the Europe for Citizens programme 

The  mid-term  evaluation  of  the  Europe  for  Citizens  programme  2014-202070  showed  that  the 
programme  plays  a  positive  overall  role  in  encouraging  civic  participation  and  democratic 
engagement,  while  strengthening  the  sense  of  belonging  together  and  supporting  mutual 
understanding  and  identification  with  Europe,  thereby  helping  to  support  the  European 
integration process in the longer term. By working directly with citizens, the programme offers a 
forum for involving European citizens through a grassroots approach. 

The  European  for  Citizens  Programme  2014-2020  was  proposed  in  2012  to  address  a  crisis  of 
confidence and limited trust in the EU institutions by promoting a greater sense of belonging to 
the  European  Union  and  explaining  the  achievements  of  European  integration.  Thus  the 
objectives of the programme, i.e. to contribute to citizens’ understanding of the Union, its shared 
history and diversity on the one hand, and to foster European citizenship and improve conditions 
for civic and democratic participation at the Union level, on the other, were and remain relevant 
to the problems to be addressed since the needs it was designed to contribute to addressing are 
still relevant.  

68 

 
 
 
Together,  the  activities  under  both  strands  provide  a  continuum  for  understanding  the  past, 
present and future, and the role European integration has played and is playing in shaping them. 
The  two  strands  are  not  only  complementary  but  mutually  supportive,  on  the  basis  of  the 
connection between lessons learned from the past and plans made for the future of Europe. 

The high number of direct and indirect participants reached by Europe for Citizens illustrates that 
the programmes has been effective at a relatively low cost. At the same time, the high demand 
from  grant  applicants  shows  that  there  is  scope  for  additional  funding  as  requested  by 
stakeholders consulted during the evaluation. 

The  programme’s  structure,  with  two  strands  and  a  cross-cutting  measure  on  valorisation  has 
proved to work efficiently and both operating and action grants have helped deliver the desired 
outcomes.  The  simplification  measures  carried  out  since  2014  have  brought  important 
improvements in terms of user-friendliness. 

Europe  for  Citizens  has  demonstrated  its  added  value  at  EU  level  both  in  its  impact  on 
participants and its role as a complement to other EU funding programmes and policy initiatives 
in the field of education, culture and EU citizenship. 

Aspects  that  have  been  identified  for  improvement  relate  in  particular  to  the  increase  of  the 
programme's  visibility,  the  revision  of  the  monitoring  indicators  and  the  strengthening  of 
synergies with other relevant EU funding programmes and initiatives. Indeed while synergies are 
already developed in some areas, for example in the establishment of the VALOR platform71, or 
through occasional cooperation of Europe for Citizens Contact Points, the Creative Europe Desks 
and Erasmus+ National Agencies, the mid-term evaluation shows that the programme can further 
benefit more coordinated approach with other relevant programmes in the future. 

CREATIVE EUROPE 

As required by the legal base of the Creative Europe programme the Commission has carried out 
a mid-term evaluation of the programme, covering also the ex-post evaluation of its predecessor 
programmes  (Media  2007,  Culture  2007-2013  and  Media  Mundus).  The  evaluation  covers  the 
implementation of the Creative Europe programme, its predecessor programmes and all their sub-
programmes,  in  the  territory  of  all  countries  which  are  eligible  to  be  programme  beneficiaries. 
The  evaluation  contains  a  Staff  Working  Document  based  on  an  external  and  independent 
evaluation  as  well  as  thematic  studies,  a  wide  range  of  data  sources  and  stakeholder  dialogue, 
including  an  online  public  consultation.  Its  findings  have  fed  and  informed  the  present  impact 
assessment. 

The  findings  of  the  2017  independent  evaluation  state  that  Creative  Europe  objectives  of 
supporting  transnational  collaboration,  cross-border  circulation  of  EU  works  and  strengthening 
the  financial  capacity  of  cultural  and  creative  SMEs  remain  highly  relevant  to  the  main 
challenges  of  the  Cultural  and  Creative  Sectors  (CCS).  Overall,  Creative  Europe  has  met  its 
objectives and generally responded to the needs of the CCS. However, more needs to be done to 
fully  reap  the  opportunities  offered  by  the  digital  shift  (e.g.  digital  creation  and  distribution, 
reinforced engagement with audiences, accessing new markets or big data).  

The European added value of Creative Europe derives primarily from the transnational character 
of its actions which complements the national focus of Member States. Exchanges, networks and 
partnerships are at the core of the beneficial effects of Creative Europe. They have had a long-
term structuring effect on the capacity of all CCS to work together. 

69 

 
 
 
Creative Europe has contributed to delivering the EU policy agenda, stimulating investment and 
job creation and deepening the internal market, especially through greater circulation of creative 
content. Yet these results could have been much larger with more funding.  

The  MEDIA  and  Culture  sub-programmes  were  found  coherent  internally.  The  Guarantee 
Facility  has  enhanced  the  overall  coherence  of  the  programme,  but  the  limited  budget  of  the 
cross-sectoral strand has had a restricted impact.  

The management and execution of the programme by the EACEA was found effective. Surveys 
from the EACEA revealed a high level of satisfaction, while the error  rate has constantly been 
low. Additional gains have been made by e-applications and use of lump sums. 

The 2017 mid-term evaluation found that  MEDIA has several strengths.  In particular MEDIA 
has  met  its  specific  objectives  of  supporting  transnational  collaboration  and  cross-border 
circulation of EU works.  It has helped develop films with the potential to travel, in particular co-
productions,  by  providing  seed-funding  at  pre-production  stage.    MEDIA  has  sustained  an 
internal  market  for  non-national  European  films  by  supporting  the  cross-border  distribution  of 
over  400  films  per  year,  equivalent  to  25%  of  Europe's  annual  film  production.  However, 
MEDIA should improve the promotion and visibility of European works in Europe  and abroad. 
Currently,  out  of  more  than  1,700  films  produced  in  Europe  each  year,  less  than  half  travel 
outside their national territory. On average, European films are released in only 4 countries, while 
US  films  are  released  in  10.  More  collaborative  distribution  and  promotion  strategies  covering 
multiple  territories  are  therefore  needed.  European  VOD  services  need  to  scale  up  at  European 
level, as they currently operate only at national or regional level. This will help the presence of 
European  works  online,  taking  into  account  that  currently  only  47%  of  EU  films  released  in 
theatres are available on VOD platforms versus 87% of US films.  

MEDIA  has  supported  cultural  and  linguistic  diversity  by  promoting  a  genre  called  'European 
cinema', but also by creating an appetite for diverse 'European' content. Films receiving MEDIA 
distribution  support  reached  over  65  million  admissions  per  year  (not  including  admissions  on 
national markets). The Europa Cinemas network has boosted the exhibition of European films in 
a  cost-effective  way,  with  every  €  1  invested  generating  an  estimated  €13  of  revenue  through 
additional audiences.  Through its support MEDIA has concretely widened the access European 
audiences and citizens to culturally diverse content. 

MEDIA is recognized as a quality brand by the industry. MEDIA-supported films have achieved 
international  recognition  by  winning  prizes  in  the  world's  major  film  festivals.    Success  stories 
include Oscar winners for Best Foreign Language Film from 2013-2016 and winning the Palme 
d'Or from the Cannes Film Festival 8 times since 2007. 

However, the evaluation has also identified a number of issues.  As regards priorities, more needs 
to  be done  to  respond to help  industry adapt  to  the  digital  shift, be  more  competitive  and  fully 
engage with audiences, thereby supporting cultural diversity.  Collaboration between parts of the 
value  chain  and  across  borders,  to  work  together  in  response  to  digitization  and  globalization, 
should be encouraged more.  In particular, promotion will play a strategic role in connecting with 
audiences  and  innovative  strategies  are  needed  which  bring  together  authors,  producers,  sales 
agents, distributors and platforms.   

As regards delivery, the evaluation found that the budget is too low to have a lasting impact on 
the EU film market,, with an annual amount of € 105 million compared to an estimated value of 

70 

 
 
 
the  sector  of  € 17  billion.  Also,  the  budget  is  spread  too  thinly  amongst  thousands  of 
beneficiaries, thus preventing the scaling up of projects.  The programme is itself fragmented into 
14  separate  schemes,  which  limits  flexibility  in  the  design  of  support  actions.    In  order  to 
strengthen  coherence  and  complementarity  with  Member  State  funds,  collaboration,  including 
joint actions, could be increased.    

The  mid-term  evaluation  found  that  the  Creative  and  Cultural  Sectors  Guarantee  Facility 
responds directly to the needs of SMEs in the sector, which have specific difficulties accessing 
loans.  The top-up of the budget from EFSI allowed a quicker deployment of guarantee support, 
reaching more countries and sectors and enhancing the geographic and sectoral balance. 

JUSTICE 

Overall Strategy and Priorities of the Justice Programme 

The  preliminary  results  of  the  2018  mid-term  evaluation  show  that  the  Justice  Programme  has 
delivered  high  European  Added  Value.  This  is  true  for  both  the  General  Objective  of  the 
Programme, namely the development of a European area of justice based on mutual recognition 
and  mutual  trust,  and  for  its  SOs.  Beneficiaries  agreed  that  providing  Judicial  Training  at  the 
European level is essential to the creation of a European area of Justice and for the smooth and 
coordinated enforcement of EU law. In turn, the actions fostered by the Judicial Training SO are 
considered  sustainable  since  they  foster  the  acquisition  of  durable  legal  knowledge  and 
competencies,  while  at  the  same  time  providing  for  networking  opportunities  and  occasions  to 
build trust among judicial staff of different MS. 

There  is  also  convergence  on  the  fact  that  the  Programme  was  highly  relevant  with  respect  to 
both  its  general  objective  and  the  needs  of  specific  target  groups.  In  some  areas,  the  basin  of 
potential  recipients  of  the  actions  could  be  expanded.  For  instance,  in  the  field  of  Judicial 
Training,  stakeholders  from  national  administrative  bodies  and  regulatory  agencies  could  be 
included  in  a  more  systematic  way,  since  such  stakeholders  oftentimes  are  tasked  with  giving 
execution  to  legislation,  and  should  thus  be  considered  a  key  stakeholder  of  the  Programme. 
However  the  inclusion  of  this  category  of  stakeholders  in  future  programmes  would  require  a 
change  in  the  legal  basis  currently  underpinning  the  Justice  Programme.  Overall,  ca.  90%  of 
Justice  Programme  beneficiaries  stated  that  the  Programme  is  relevant  in  meeting  the  needs  of 
their  respective  target  groups,  and  about  two  thirds  of  them  declared  that  the  scope  of  calls  is 
highly relevant to the work of their respective organisations. 

Structure and synergies of the Justice Programme 

Several  areas  of  overlap  with  other  EU  funded  instruments/programmes  exist.  The  instruments 
most relevant to the Justice Programme include: 

  The ISF-Police and the Health for Growth Programme, with reference to drugs policies; 

  Connecting Europe Facility (managed by DG CONNECT), relative to the E-Justice Portal; 

  COSME, for the dissemination of civic & legal technology; 

71 

 
 
 
 
 
  The REC Programme, the Education and Culture Programme (DG EAC), the European Social 

Fund and OLAF Hercule (amongst others) concerning Judicial Training; 

  Fiscalis 2020 and Customs 2020  concerning the training of law enforcement authorities and 
cooperation  among  relevant  national  agencies.  These  programmes  also  support  for  the 
development  to  the  European  Public  Prosecutors  Office,  which  receives  significant  funding 
from the Justice Programme. 

Aside from minor cases (relative for instance to actions also funded by CEF), little to no risk of 
overlap  was  observed,  as  the  e-grant  platform  used  by  the  DGs  of  the  EC  is  an  efficient 
instrument to detect such situations and remedy them.  

There  seems  to  be  scope  for  further  centralisation  in  terms  of  Judicial  Training  for  legal 
practitioners, as this is provided through a number of different programmes which might result in 
duplication and lack of coordination.   

Finally,  in  the  future  Programming  Period  it  could  be  useful  to  expand  the  range  of  activities 
covered by the “judicial training” SO also to candidate countries and countries within the scope 
of  the  European  Neighbourhood  Policy  (particularly  Eastern  Partnership  members).  This  is 
currently  not  possible  under  the  existing  legal  basis  of  the  Programme,  though  from  an 
operational standpoint it would not be difficult to expand the reach of the training, as for instance 
the EJTN already counts judicial institutions from several third countries as associated members.  

Delivery Mechanisms of the Justice Programme 

The  delivery  mechanisms  (in  terms  of  operating  grants,  action  grants,  direct  grants  and 
procurement actions) are adequate to pursue the objectives of the Programme. Survey outcomes 
indicate  that  a  number  of  beneficiaries  think  that  it  would  be  value-adding  to  introduce  re-
granting/sub-granting  options.  The  rationale  behind  this  is  that  small  organisations  (especially 
charities  and  NGOs,  which  represent  the  largest  share  of  programme  applicants)  may  not  have 
the necessary administrative capacity to apply to grants and manage the funding, but might have 
specific operational capacities needed to achieve the goals of the calls. However introducing such 
tools  within  the  Justice  Programme  could  prove  complex,  as  analyses  have  shown  that  the 
number of organisations might be too small to warrant such schemes.  

In  order  to  allow  for  longer-term  planning,  beneficiaries  suggested  that  Work  Programmes  of 
Operating Grants within Framework Partnership Agreements might be extended to two or more 
years. 

Beneficiaries also mentioned that it could be useful to expand the maximum duration of projects 
beyond two years, and even beyond 30 months, as many stakeholders (such as universities) prefer 
to establish research collaborations lasting 3+ years.  

Sustainability could be fostered by levering IT tools more effectively: for instance, developing a 
centralised  database  of  project  outputs.  However,  existing  tools  already  make  it  possible  to 
disseminate specific project outputs at the European level, such as the judicial training section of 
the e-Justice portal. 

Two-thirds of survey respondents mentioned the need to foster cooperation, mutual learning and 
capacity-building within the Programme. 

72 

 
 
 
Certain  budget  parameters  were  mentioned  by  multiple  beneficiaries  as  being  quite  limiting.  A 
key example  here is the criterion that only travel beyond 100 km may be reimbursed, which is 
seen  as  constraining  factor  especially  in  smaller  MS  or  in  areas  with  fewer  connections  and 
public transport. Another example relates to indirect costs (overheads), which are limited to 7% 
of  total  eligible  direct  costs,  which  was  often  compared  unfavourably  to  H2020,  where  a  25% 
limit is present. 

Beneficiaries  reported  that  administrative  requests  to  justify  the  involved  staff  are  very  time 
demanding.  A  "lump  sum  approach"  or  standard  cost  options  for  each  staff  category  might  be 
more effective and would reduce the time devoted to gather documents from partners to justify 
the  real  costs  of  staff  involved.  The  fact  that  different  DGs  use  different  IT  systems  for  the 
management of the same Programme is also viewed as a common problem.  

There  is  a  need  to  further  improve  communication  activities,  also  with  a  view  to  foster 
participation  from  organisations  in  MS  with  relatively  low  participation  rates.  Beneficiaries 
pointed  out  that  dissemination  could  also  be  encouraged  by  fostering  mutual  collaboration 
between funded projects.  

System of indicators 

In terms of achievement of indicators, the progress of the indicators from the baseline value of 
several indicators shows that the targets are close to being achieved been achieved with regard to 
the indicators concerning judicial training, such as the cumulative number of legal professionals 
receiving training (not only through the Programme) on EU law or law of another MS, including 
Civil Justice, Criminal Justice and Fundamental Rights (700,000 by 2020).  

In this regard, the Justice Programme has provided the single greatest contribution to achieving 
the  training  targets  set  for  2020.  The  number  of  judicial  staff  trained  yearly  in  the  Justice 
Programme stands at about 14,000 as of 2016 (2017 data as of yet not available), with a goal of 
reaching 20,000 by 2020. 

The indicators selected for measuring the achievements of the Programme are overall adequate. 
However, data quality considerations can also be factor: there is for example the issue of double 
counting of recipients of training activities. Indicators also reflect the strong IT component of the 
Programme, focusing on ECRIS and the e-Justice Portal. 

73 

 
 
 
Annex 4: The current spending programmes 

THE RIGHTS, EQUALITY AND CITIZENSHIP PROGRAMME 2014-2020  

Since 2014, the REC Programme72 has been used to promote and protect rights and empower people 
and to promote non-discrimination and equality so that persons are entitled to enjoy in the Union the 
rights conferred on them by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and the 
Treaty on European Union (TEU), as well as by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European 
Union.  In  doing  so,  the  Programme  has  contributed  to  the  promotion  of  EU  values  including  the 
respect for human dignity, fundamental rights, non-discrimination, tolerance, solidarity and gender 
equality,  and  to  supporting  a  reinforced  EU  citizenship.  The  Programme  contributes  to  upholding 
these  EU  values  and  to  supporting  the  Commission's  role  in  this  respect.  Thanks  to  the 
implementation of the EU policy mix of legislation, policy measures and funding, progress is visible 
in the promotion and protection of rights and values as shown by following examples: 

  Preventing and combating all forms of violence against women, young people and children (known 
by the stakeholders as 'Daphne'), the most funded specific objective, has been a success for twenty 
years now73, both in terms of its popularity and effectiveness of the funded actions. The protection 
and  support  standards  for  victims  have  improved.  This  is  observed  indirectly  through  the  higher 
reporting  of violence  in  the  Member  States,  the  lower  acceptance  of  violence  in  the  society74  and 
better victims' services in place.  

  Actions in the area of the rights of the child have tested new approaches, enhanced cooperation and 
coordination in line with the 2011 EU Agenda for the Rights of the Child, especially in the area of 
child-friendly justice and the protection of children in vulnerable situations, including in migration. 

  The  Programme  supports  actions  to  promote  the  rights  of  persons  with  disabilities  and  non-
discrimination  on  the  grounds  of  religion  or  belief,  age,  disability  and  sexual  orientation,  funding 
transnational activities and civil society organisations. Roma National Platforms were set up in 21 
Member States.  

  The Programme has supported projects in the area of preventing and combating racism, xenophobia, 
homophobia  and  other  forms  of  intolerance  -  with  specific  priorities  set  on  anti-semitism,  anti-
muslim hatred and countering online hate speech.  

  In  gender  equality,  the  programme  supports  the  Strategic  engagement  for  gender  equality  2016-
201975.  Projects  have  contributed  for  instance  to  a  better  gender  balance  in  economic  decision-
making  positions76,  to  the  fight  against  gender  stereotypes  and  the  pay  gap,  to  promote  work-life 
balance,  mainly  through  analytical  studies,  active  work  with  target  groups,  the  creation  of  a 
Commission  database  on  women  and  men  in  decision-making  and  exchanges  of  good  practices 
showcasing  different  models.  All  these  activities  paved  the  way  to  the  Commission's  legislative 
proposals on women on boards and on work-life balance77. 

  Several  projects  supported  the  inclusion  of  mobile  EU  citizens  and  their  political  and  societal 
participation. In addition, an e-learning tool on free movement was established in order to help front 
desk officers in local administrations to better understand the rights and obligations associated with 

74 

 
 
EU citizens' rights free movement and thus to improve the practical application of EU rules. In 2016 
EUR  2.5  million  were  set  aside  for  fostering  successful  inclusion  and  participation  of  mobile  EU 
citizens in their host country78. 

  The  Programme  has  supported  the  recent  EU  data  protection  reform79  through  studies  on  key 
aspects of the legislation, building a network of Member States' experts, supporting the functioning 
of the network of national Data Protection Authorities.  

  The  programme  supports  the  European  Disability  Strategy  2010-202080.  Actions  to  protect  the 
rights of persons with disabilities comprise among other, training judges and prosecutors on the UN 
Convention  on  the  Rights  of  Persons  with  Disabilities,  launching  the  European  Disability  Card, 
supporting a network of academic experts, organising the European Day of Persons with Disabilities 
and the Access City Award as well as supporting EU-level networks of disability organisations81.  

The  total  financial  envelope  for  the  REC  programme  for  the  2014-2020  period  is  438  €  million 
euros. 

The REC programme is implemented via direct centralised management which has proven essential 
to  have  a  close  relationship  between  the  programme  management  and  EU  policy-making, 
contributing  to  the  alignment  of  budget  implementation  with  EU  policy  priorities  in  line  with  the 
"budget for result" approach. In fact, this management mode allows DG JUST & DG EMPL to tailor 
funded  activities  to  policy  priorities  and  policy  needs  and  to  target  directly  the  relevant  groups  of 
stakeholders. It also allows a close contact with the programmes' beneficiaries and better knowledge 
of  the  needs  on  the  ground,  as  well  as  the  possibility  to  use  innovative  activities  funded  by  the 
Programme as input for the EU policy making.   

Three  types of  actions  are  funded:  Specific  trans-national  projects  of  EU  interest  (Action  Grants), 
actions to support to the activities of non-governmental organisations or other entities pursuing an 
aim of general European interest (Operating Grants) and specific actions taken by the Commission, 
such as studies, surveys, conferences, specific IT projects etc. (Commission initiatives). 

Interaction, synergies with other instruments/programmes 

DG 

Programme 

HOME 
(implemented 
by EACEA) 

EAC 
(implemented 
by EACEA) 

Europe for 
Citizens 

Erasmus+ 

EMPL 

ESF 

EMPL 

EaSI 
(Employment 
and Social 

Priorities (Synergies) with the REC Programmes 
Citizenship Strand 
Synergies: Raise awareness of remembrance of 
Holocaust and other events under totalitarian regimes to 
and contribute to citizens' understanding of the EU, its 
history and diversity 
Training of prison staff on terrorism 
Youth 
Synergies: good practices developed in projects in DG 
JUST and transferred to DG EAC; strengthening the EU 
identity and EU citizenship in youth 
Social inclusion, non-discrimination, promoting equal 
opportunities 
Equality between men and women , child poverty, 
Roma social integration, rights of persons with 
disabilities 
Social inclusion 
Equality between men and women with regard to labour 
market opportunities and treatment at work 

75 

 
 
Innovation) 

ERDF 

Horizon 
2020 

REGIO 
(shared 
management) 

RTD 
(implemented 
by ERCEA, 
REA) 

DG GROW 

COSME 

Synergies: Roma integration, rights of people with 
disabilities, non-discrimination, child poverty 
promotion of gender equality. 
Effective justice and enforcement capacity through e.g. 
training of legal practitioners 

Digitalisation and interconnection of IT systems 
Roma 
Gender equality 
Synergies: civic, legal technology; digitisation of justice 
systems; promotion of gender equality; non-
discrimination. 
Digitalisation and interconnection of IT systems 
Women in research 
Synergies: civic, legal technology; digitisation of justice 
systems; promotion of gender equality. 
Training of SMEs 
Digital transformation of SMEs 
Promotion of corporate social responsibility 
Synergies: civic, legal technology; promotion of human 
rights; training SMEs on consumer law. 

PREROGATIVE LINE COVERING ACTIVITIES RELATED TO CONSULAR PROTECTION AND TO THE 
CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS  

Information, communication and evaluation  activities linked to the Charter of  Fundamental  Right, 
consular protection and the dialogue pursuant to Article 17TFEU are financed through a prerogative 
line.  The  annual  Colloquium  on  Fundamental  rights  which  aims  at  improving  mutual  cooperation 
and  greater  political  engagement  for  the  promotion  and  protection  of  fundamental  rights  has  been 
supported through this line since 2015. 

EUROPE FOR CITIZENS PROGRAMME 2014-2020 

The  Europe  for  Citizens  programme  (2014-2020)  contributes  to  the  overall  aim  of  bringing  the 
European Union closer to citizens. Its general objectives are to contribute to citizens' understanding 
of the Union, its history and diversity and to foster European citizenship and to improve conditions 
for civic and democratic participation at Union level.  

At least 1 100 000 citizens per year have been directly reached by the EfCP since 2013. During the 
same period, about 5 million citizens have been indirectly impacted by the programme.  

In  general,  the  Europe  for  Citizens  programme  has  proven  to  be  an  efficient  and  proven  tool  of 
engaging European citizens in the European project, in stimulating interest in and identification with 
the European Union and in supporting capacity of civil society in the EU.  

  Through town twinning, the EfCP encourages citizens to discuss European policies in a bottom-up 
approach, with a focus on multi-annual thematic priorities. At the same time town twinning allows 
for cultural exchange between participants. Networks of towns increase the impact of the activities, 
as the cooperation of the twinning town is done on a longer term perspective.  

  Remembrance  activities  and  critical  reflection  on  Europe’s  historical  memory  have  made  citizens 
aware  of  the  common  history,  as  the  foundation  for  a  common  future  and  shared  values.  It  has 
allowed  for  networking  and  fostering  of  partnerships  between  grassroots  initiatives  and  major 

76 

 
 
 
 
European  and  international  memorial,  cultural  and  educational  organisations.  As  a  consequence  it 
contributed to exchange of best practice in the areas critical for European memory and remembrance 
such as Holocaust education and remembrance.  

  With  regards  to  civil  society  organisations,  operating  grants  help  ensuring  independent  voices  for 
EU-level  debates  and  cultivate  expertise.  Action  grants  are  awarded  to  civil  society  organisations 
forming  partnerships  with  counterparts  in  other  Member  States,  building  their  capacity  and 
international  experience  and,  in  some  cases,  forming  sustainable  networks.  Civil  society  projects 
reach out to a large number of citizens through events, information material, and (social) media. 

  The  Europe  for  Citizens  programme  applies  a  bottom-up  approach  reaching  out  to  citizens  and 

offering them a forum to bring in their ideas for the future of the European Union. 

The total budget of the 2014-2020 programme reaches 187 468 000 EUR. As per the regulation, the 
programme is implemented through action grants and operating grants. To be noted that the size of 
action grants is relatively small (example: up to 100 000 EUR for remembrance projects, up to 25 
000 EUR for town twinning). 

The Europe for Citizen programme is managed centrally by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture 
Executive  Agency  (EACEA),  which  provides  considerable  economy  of  scale  in  terms  of 
administration and human resources.  

The Europe for Citizens National Contact Points ensure the promotion of and information about the 
programme in all Member States and other participating countries.  

The  Civil  Dialogue  with  European  civil  society  organisations  initiated  by  the  programme  and 
involving  a  broad  range  of  organisations  has  proven  to  be  a  strong  network  capable  to  represent 
concerns and positions of EU citizens. 

Substantial simplification measures such as lump sums and flat rates, e-form application and grant 
decisions have been introduced in the current Europe for Citizens programme.  

The  Europe  for  Citizens  programme  is  consistent  with  other  EU  policies  and  tools  dedicated  to 
increasing EU citizens’ participation in EU civil society and is in line with other instruments in the 
areas  of  volunteering,  youth,  research  and  innovation.    It  complements  other  EU  funding 
programmes,  notably  Erasmus+,  the  European  Solidarity  Corps,  Creative  Europe’s  Culture  sub-
programme and the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 by adding a focus on participation and 
a strong emphasis on citizens and societal aspects of the EU. 

THE CREATIVE EUROPE PROGRAMME 2014-2020 

Creative  Europe  promotes  cultural  and  linguistic  diversity  and  the  competitiveness  of  the  cultural 
and creative sectors, in particular the audio-visual sector, by supporting transnational collaboration 
of  artists  and  creative  professionals,  facilitating  the  access  of  EU  content  across  the  Union  and 
strengthening the financial capacity of cultural and creative SMEs.  

The  programme  brings  under  a  single  common  framework  two  sub-programmes  and  one  cross 
sectoral strand, These are: a) MEDIA, addressed to the audio-visual sector, b) Culture, addressed to 
all the other cultural and creative sectors (CCS); c) a cross sectoral strand, addressed to all cultural 
and creative sectors, which includes a dedicated debt financial instrument for the CCS and a support 
to  Creative  Europe  desks.  Since  2014,  Creative  Europe  has  supported  European  creators  and 

77 

 
 
contributed to the promotion of EU cultural and linguistic diversity, thereby transmitting knowledge 
and  values,  which  are  conditions  for  healthy  democracies  and  creative,  resilient  and  inclusive 
societies.  Creative  Europe  has  also  supported  CCS  as  ambassadors  of  'European-ness',  forging  a 
dynamic image of an attractive and creative Europe open to talents from across the world and to an 
intercultural dialogue thus contributing to growth, job creation and innovation.  

a)  The  MEDIA  Programme  (abbreviation  from  French:  Mesures  pour  l'encouragement  et  le 
développement  de  l'industrie  audiovisuelle)  was  launched  in  1991  to  strengthen  Europe's 
audiovisual industry by encouraging collaboration between independent film, television and, more 
recently, VOD players across Europe. Its aim is to help the European audiovisual industry grow and 
capture new audiences in a sector being transformed by new technologies and intense international 
competition, in particular from the US. The programme has supported the development of thousands 
of films and the creation of TV programmes, their international distribution and promotion. It has 
structured  collaboration  between  professionals  across  the  value  chain  (production,  distribution, 
cinema exhibition, video on demand platforms, film festival and markets) and provided high quality 
training for thousands of producers, directors and screenwriters. 

For  the  2014-2020  period,  MEDIA  represents  56%  of  the  Creative  Europe  budget  and  its  annual 
budget varies from € 103 mio in 2014 to nearly € 116 mio in 2020. Its support has addressed several 
priorities over this period. 

The training of professionals has aimed at building their capacity to be competitive at a European 
level, harness new technologies and manage their businesses. About 70 initiatives for the training of 
more than 2200 professionals are financed per year. Innovative training actions such as the Berlinale 
Talents are highly appreciated as they make a real difference to professionals’ career development.  

MEDIA  also  supports  the  creation  of  content  through  the  development  of  films  (script  writing, 
research,  trailers,  finding  partners)  as  well  as  the  contributing  to  production  of  TV  programmes, 
including  drama,  fiction  and  animation.  Over  400  films  are  developed  per  year  through  MEDIA.  
Support  to  content  represents  about  30  %  of  MEDIA  support.  MEDIA  supported  films  have  won 
critical  acclaim  at  major  film  festivals  in  Europe  and  beyond.  42  films  supported  by  the  MEDIA 
programme  have  been  awarded  top  prizes  since  1991  at  the  Cannes  Film  Festival.    TV  series 
supported include "The Bridge" which was part of the "Nordic noir" trend popular with audiences 
across Europe. 

Supporting  distribution  is  a  top  priority  as  it  increases  the  possibilities  for  independent  European 
films  to  go  beyond  the  domestic  market  and  travel  across  Europe.    Also,  a  network  of  cinemas 
specialising  in  non-national  European  films  is  supported  to  increase  the  possibilities  of  reaching 
wider  audiences.  I,  Daniel  Blake  (Palme  d'Or  2016),  Toni  Erdman  and  Julieta,  were  the  top  three 
most successful films in the Network in 2016. Also, the promotion  of European works online has 
been specifically targeted to develop new distribution models capable of reaching audiences online.  
Altogether, support to distribution and exhibition represents about 50 % of the MEDIA budget.    

Support to markets has helped create fora for pitching and co-productions. MIFA, the market of the 
Annecy  Festival,  is  the  largest  animation  market  in  the  world,  gathering  over  2,800  professionals 
each year. Support to Festivals and film education activities have aimed at the demand side of the 
market in order to stimulate awareness and appreciation of European cinema and build the audiences 
of the future.   

b) Culture 2014-2020 (within the Creative Programme 2014-2020)  

78 

 
 
The Culture sub-programme accounts for 31% of the current Creative Europe budget and provides 
critical  support  to  the  diversity  of  cultures  across  Europe.  It  contributes  to  achieve  the  European 
Agenda for Culture’s societal, economic and international objectives.  

Over  2014-2020  Culture  will  have  been  instrumental  in  facilitating  mutual  understanding, 
stimulating creativity, and contributing to the mutual enrichment of our cultures. It will have helped 
thousands of cultural organisations to create and implement cultural and artistic projects improving 
the knowledge and dissemination of European cultural heritage, cultural exchanges, artistic creation, 
and literary translation. It will have also given recognition to major European cultural achievements 
through  European  prizes  in  architecture,  literature,  cultural  heritage  and  music  as  well  as  the 
European Capitals of Culture. 

Until 2016, it is estimated that the cooperation projects funded under the sub-programme reach an 
average  of  1  million  people  per  year,  including  55%  youngsters.  Each  project  supports  the 
transnational mobility of 1,363 cultural and creative players on average, meaning a total of 287,600 
mobility experiences. The number of mobility experiences provided by networks funded by the sub-
programme in 2014 is 3,462 (against 1,841 planned) or around 10,300 in total, exceeding the target 
by 88%. Over the three-year period 2014-2016, around 1500 translations will have been supported 
by  the  sub-programme  and  it  is  estimated  that  the  number  of  sold  copies  will  have  reached  1.4 
million (either as hard printed copies or e-books).  

The  European  Border  Breaker  Awards  (EBBA)  have  rewarded  promising  pop  musicians:  they 
showcased Adele or Stromae before they became global brands. The same goes for the prestigious 
Mies van der Rohe Award, rewarding European iconic buildings. 

On average, a European Capital of Culture attracts around 2 million people. The record number is 
11 million (Marseille-Provence 2013). Each euro of public money invested in Mons 2015 (Belgium) 
is estimated to have generated 6€ for the local economy. On average, Capitals experience a rise of 
12 % in tourism figures. 

But Creative Europe could not cater for certain specific needs such as the music industry, which in 
Europe employed 1,2 million people and generated €5.27 billion in 2016. Europe is a strong global 
player all along the value chain, including online distribution. Streaming revenues grow extremely 
rapidly; compensating declines in physical formats and downloads. However, 50% of top tracks in 
Europe  remain  American,  evidencing  a  market  failure  similar  to  that  experienced  by  the  film 
industry.  

c)  The  Cultural  and  Creative  Sectors  Guarantee  Facility  responds  to  the  needs  of  cultural  and 
creative SMEs which have more difficulties in accessing loans due to the nature of their business, 
the difficulty to evaluate intangible assets or an uncertain demand.  The strong market response to 
its launch in 2016 shows the relevance of this instrument to addressing the financing gap, estimated 
at € 1 billion annually.  The Guarantee includes a capacity building programme, to help the financial 
sector improve its understanding of the creative sectors.   

The Guarantee Facility was allocated a budget of €121 mio for the period 2014-2020, representing 
19% of the Creative Europe budget.  Given its success, the Commission decided to top up its budget 
by €60 million of EFSI resources in 2017. A further top-up of EFSI resources of at least the same 
amount is envisaged in 2018. 

The Facility is managed through a delegation agreement with the EIF.  

79 

 
 
The Creative Europe Programme is implemented via direct management with the bulk of the activity 
externalised  to  the  executive  agency  EACEA.  MEDIA  support  is  delivered  through  grants  and  is 
organized  through  14  support  schemes  which  are  implemented  through  calls  for  proposals.    Each 
annual Work Programme leads to about 18 calls for proposals. 

Beneficiaries  are  SMEs  in  the  audiovisual  sector  and  grants  typically  vary  from  €  50,000  for 
development  to  up  to  €  1  mio  for  TV  production  support.    In  2016  the  Agency  made  1,596 
commitments for 1,983 projects. It completed altogether 3 424 payment transactions. 

Priorities for MEDIA in the next programming period :  

The  AVMS  Directive  coordinates  national  legislations  on  audiovisual  media  services  protecting 
children  and  consumers,  prohibiting  incitement  to  hatred,  fostering  European  works  (quota  and 
prominence  requirements)  and  safeguarding  the  independence  of  national  media  regulators.  The 
MEDIA programme will accompany the industrial and cultural objectives pursued by the provisions 
of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive.  For this purpose it will be crucial that in a more open 
and  competitive  digital  single  market  funds  favour  the  scaling  up  and  consolidation  of  the  EU 
audiovisual  industries.  This  means  in  practice,  focusing  on  those  projects  and  actions  bearing  a 
potential for cross-border success and stepping up investments in the promotion of EU works, in line 
with the requirements set out in the AVMSD Directive. 

Europe needs to invest more in its audiovisual talent. The impact of these actions goes beyond the 
individual  benefits  provided  to  young  and  consolidated  professionals  and  contributes  to  make 
Europe a global player in key growing industrial activities such as production and shooting of films, 
post  production,  visual  effects.82  Currently,  1800  professionals  sharpen  their  skills  in  training 
programmes supported by MEDIA, with a total budget of 7 M€. Priority will be given to help 5000 
young  or  established  professionals  per  annum,  understand    the  impact  of  new  technologies  on 
production processes, marketing and distribution, through physical  and on-line training, (MOOCs) 
for  wider  reach  and  mentoring  activities  to  ultimately  make  the  EU  audiovisual  industry  more 
competitive. 

Development is key not only for script writing but for increasing the commercial potential of films83 
In the future , support will be clarified and cater on the one hand, for single development for projects 
from smaller markets to ensure diversity and on the other, support will be provided to slates of films 
and  individual  high  profile  European  films  and  TV  series  able  to  compete  with  US  major 
productions in the European and global markets84. Likewise, taking into account the appeal, success 
among  audiences,  impact  on  public  opinions  and  the  strategic  importance  in  the  market  share  of 
broadcasters  and  VOD  services  priority  will  be  given  to  support  more  high  quality  TV  fiction 
projects85 while ensuring greater geographical and linguistic diversity.86  

VR is the fourth digital transformation. New actions will be developed to support innovative story 
telling  formats  and  in  particular  virtual  reality,  to  help  champion  a  leading  European  VR 
ecosystem87. 

Distribution  of  works  across  borders  support  will  be  reinforced  and  made  more  efficient88,  by 
bringing closer together online and theatrical distribution and enhancing cross border collaboration. 
Support  will  be  devoted  to  a  targeted  selection  of  films  as  well  as  to  the  distribution  of  slates  of 
films. A selection of 25 European films per annum will be supported through transnational consortia 
of  professionals  from  across  the  value  chain  to  maximise  audience  outreach.  Support  to  the 

80 

 
 
distribution of film slates will primarily fund promotional activities to increase the visibility of the 
films with their target audiences.  Funding will focus on those films with a strong potential to reach 
audiences with the aim of reaching 100 million cinema admissions through a total support budget of 
€ 50 million. 

Support to VOD platforms will move from individual support89 to a structured network of European 
VOD services thereby encouraging strategic collaboration among the different platforms regarding 
technology,  data  collection  and  management  promotional  activities  and  possibly  strategies  of 
acquisitions of rights. The  objective is to increase the amount of SVOD subscribers by 200% and 
TVOD transactions by 50%. The revamped support will enable to collect data on VOD transactions 
and,  increase  transparency  on  the  market.  To  achieve  this  objective  a  min  of  10  M€  per  year  is 
needed.  

These objectives should be facilitated by suitable tools to be supported by MEDIA such as the 
Directory of European films and the subtitling database90  to facilitate cross border access. 

Europa cinemas is a consolidated pan European network  of cinema theatres, bringing together more 
than  1,100  European  cinemas  (nearly  3,000  screens)  in  43  countries.    With  more  than  78  million 
annual admissions for European films, it plays a key role  in connecting EU content with audiences. 
Enhanced support will be provided to double the reach of the network in medium sized towns with 
fewer  than  100.000  residents91  (from  269  cities  in  2016  to  400  in  2027)  especially  in  Eastern 
countries; to promote EU films among young audiences92 and foster collaborations to innovate the 
cinematic experience.  

Film festivals, including in line Festivals, are an excellent way to promote European films across the 
EU93.  They  also  have  an  important  role  in  audience  development,  training  and  film  education. 
Support will be enhanced and streamlined by replacing current  individual support by a structured 
pan  European  network  of  festivals  ,  make  them  work  together  to  reach  economies  of  scale  and 
expand  their  audience  development  activities  especially  among  young  people.  The  objective  is  to 
provide support to more than 100 festivals and reach audience of 10 million in 202794.  

Europe  is  an  audio-visual  production  giant  but  has  not  yet  reached  its  full  export  potential95.  
Structured  promotion  support  will  enhance  the  commercial  success  of  the  European  films  which 
have a clear export potential in markets such as the US, Asia (China) and Latin America.  

Policy support will be streamlined through the mainstreaming of the audivisual  policy line  and the 
inclusion  of  activities  currently  funded  under  the  current  cross  sectorial  strand  of  the  Creative 
Europe programme  (e.g. European Audiovisual Observatory),  

AUDIOVISUAL PREROGATIVE LINES AND MULTIMEDIA ACTIONS96 

Healthy democracies, including the EU as a whole, need media as a cornerstone of  well-informed 
EU  citizens  and  a  participative  public  discourse.  Media  freedom  and  pluralism  are  fundamental 
rights enshrined in Article 11 of the EU charter of Fundamental rights. The Commission has been 
working  on  a  number  of  actions  in  the  media  sector  so  as  to,  in  the  words  of  the  Budgetary 
Authority,  "allow  citizens  to  make  full  use  of  their  right  to  be  informed  about  and  involved  in 
European  policies".  Actions  in  the  media  domain  related  to  the  AVMS  Directive  or  not  are 
translated into strengthening independent media reporting about EU affairs through the funding line 
of  the  Multimedia  Actions,  but  also  into  promoting  quality  journalism,  defending  a  free  and 

81 

 
 
pluralistic  media  environment  and  improving  media  literacy,  as  key  elements  of  healthy 
democracies.  These  actions  were  not  part  of  any  programme  to  this  date,  but  stemmed  from  the 
Commission's  prerogatives.  They  were  managed  through  ad-hoc  standalone  lines  and/or  as  pilot 
project at the initiative of the EP. 

The Multimedia Actions budget in the current MFF represented EUR 136,9 Mio in the current MFF 
(2014-2020), which represented a decrease of 27% compared with the previous one.  

The  budget  under  the  institutional  prerogative  line  of  audiovisual  policy  is  intended  to  cover  the 
following measures:  

  the implementation of the Directive 2010/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 
10  March  2010  on  the  coordination  of  certain  provisions  laid  down  by  law,  regulation  or 
administrative  action  in  Member  States  concerning  the  provision  of  audiovisual  media  services 
(Audiovisual Media Services Directive) (OJ L 95, 15.4.2010, p. 1),  

  the monitoring of the evolution of the media sector, including pluralism and freedom of the media 

and media literacy,  

  the  collection  and  dissemination  of  economic  and  legal  information  and  analysis  concerning  the 

audiovisual sector and converging media and content industries.  

It is also intended to cover expenditure on studies, meetings of experts, information and publications 
directly  linked  to  the  achievement  of  the  objective  of  the  measures  coming  under  this  article,  and 
any other expenditure on technical and administrative assistance not involving public authority tasks 
outsourced by the Commission under ad hoc service contracts.  

The financial programming is as follows: 

  2014: EUR 1.020.000 

  2015: EUR 1.040.000  

  2016: EUR 1.061.000  

  2017: EUR 1.126.000    

  2018: EUR 1.104.000 

  2019: EUR 1.126.000           

  2020: EUR 1.148.000 

THE JUSTICE PROGRAMME 2014 - 2020 

Since  2014,  the  Justice  Programme97  has  contributed  to  upholding  and  promoting  the  Union's 
common  values  and  to  creating  an  area  of  freedom,  security  and  justice,  supporting  judicial 
cooperation based on mutual recognition and the enforcement of judicial decisions, promoting the 
action of the Member States in the field of crime prevention, supporting the respect of the rule of 
law  and  fundamental  rights  and  a  well-functioning  independent  judicial  system.  The  Programme 

82 

 
 
contributes directly to the Juncker priority aimed at establishing an area of justice built on respect of 
fundamental rights and mutual trust. Justice and its underlying principles are closely connected with 
European values: the respect of the Rule of Law, which is one of the Union's core values implies an 
independent  judiciary  operating  in  an  efficient  and  quality  justice  system,  in  which  crimes  are 
effectively prosecuted; the independence of the judiciary, which is a requirement stemming from the 
common  constitutional  traditions  of  all  Member  States,  and  from  the  right  to  an  effective  remedy 
before a tribunal, as enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights (Article 47); the effectiveness 
of justice systems, which is necessary to defend fundamental rights and freedoms, guaranteed by EU 
law, in particular access to justice by suspects and victims; access to justice is an essential element 
of  the  area  of  freedom,  security  and  justice  without  which,  many  rights  cannot  be  effectively 
protected.  

Funded actions brought significant results including for instance: 

  Since 2011, the programme funded several projects promoting judicial cooperation in civil matter to 
contribute  to  the  correct  implementation  of  several  instruments  in  particular  the  Victim's  Rights 
Directive,  or  the  Procedural  Rights'  Directives,  that  was  in  particular  supported  via  capacity-
for  professionals,  multi-disciplinary  cooperation,  exchange  of  good  practices, 
building 
dissemination and awareness-raising activities. 

  The  Programme  supports  the  European  network  of  national  human  rights  bodies  aiming  at 
protecting and promoting fundamental rights at national level, as well as the network representing 
the supreme courts, judges and councils for the judiciary.  

  In  criminal  justice,  the  Programme  funded  projects  fighting  radicalisation  in  prisons.  The 
Programme  finances  the  cooperation  with  the  Council  of  Europe  to  set  up  a  network  of  prison 
monitoring  bodies  and  an  annual  report  on  prison  statistics.  The  European  Criminal  Records 
Information  System  (ECRIS),  a  decentralised  electronic  exchange  of  criminal  records  between 
national  authorities  financed  by  the  Programme,  has  increased  six  times  the  number  of  exchanges 
between 2012 and 2016. 

  Funding  devoted  to  judicial  training  reached  almost  500.000  legal  practitioners  in  2015  (the  2020 
objective  is  to  train  700.000).  In  2015,  almost  12.000  legal  practitioners  were  trained  through  the 
Programme, its projects and the European Judicial Training Network (EJTN).  

  The Programme supports the EU Justice Scoreboard that presents an annual comparative overview 
of the effectiveness of Member State justice systems  and funded the development of the e-Justice 
Portal  that  facilitates  citizens'  access  to  justice.  Every year  an  increase  in  number  of  hits  by  users 
can be observed (in 2016 more than 3.8 million hits, six times as compared to 2012).  

The  total  financial  envelope  for  the  Justice  programme  for  the  2014-2020  period  is  368  €  million 
euros. 

The  Justice  programme  is  implemented  via  direct  centralised  management  which  has  proven 
essential to have a close relationship between the programme management and EU policy-making, 
contributing  to  the  alignment  of  budget  implementation  with  EU  policy  priorities  in  line  with  the 
"budget  for  result"  approach.  In  fact,  this  management  mode  allows  DG  JUST  to  tailor  funded 
activities  to  policy  priorities  and  policy  needs  and  to  target  directly  the  relevant  groups  of 
stakeholders. It also allows a close contact with the programmes' beneficiaries and better knowledge 

83 

 
 
of  the  needs  on  the  ground,  as  well  as  the  possibility  to  use  innovative  activities  funded  by  the 
Programme as input for the EU policy making.   

The support to national administrations through restricted calls for proposals for action grants is an 
essential  part  of  the  programmes  as  well  as  the  support  to  Civil  Society  Organisations  and  Non-
Governmental  Organisations  (CSOs/NGOs)  through  operating  grants,  in  particular,  in  the  current 
political climate of questioning the rule of law and the independence of the justice system in some 
EU Member States. 

Interaction, synergies with other instruments/programmes : 

DG 
HOME 
(shared and 
direct 
management) 

TAXUD 

EAC 
(implemented 
by EACEA) 

Programme 

Internal 
Security 
Fund 

Fiscalis 
2020 
Customs 
2020 

Erasmus+ 

EMPL 

ESF 

CONNECT 
(implemented 
by INEA) 

REGIO 
(shared 
management) 

RTD 
(implemented 
by ERCEA, 
REA) 

Connecting 
Europe 
Facility in 
Telecom, 
Energy, 
Transport 

ERDF 

Horizon 
2020 

DG GROW 

COSME 

OLAF 

Hercule III 

 

Priorities (Synergies) the Justice Programmes 
Training of law enforcement authorities 
Organised crime including terrorism 
Synergies: training on EU law; good practices developed 
in projects of DG JUST and transferred to DG HOME 
Training of law enforcement authorities 
Interconnection of IT systems 
Synergies: EPPO using the IT systems of tax authorities; 
training on EU law 
Training of prison staff on terrorism 
Youth 
Synergies: good practices developed in projects in DG 
JUST and transferred to DG EAC; strengthening the EU 
identity and EU citizenship in youth 
Social inclusion, non-discrimination, promoting equal 
opportunities 
Equality between men and women 
Effective justice and enforcement capacity through e.g. 
training of legal practitioners 

Digitalisation and interconnection of IT systems 
Synergies: civic, legal technology; digitisation of justice 
systems 
Development and interconnection of registers, robotics, 
transfer and access of data. 

Digitalisation and interconnection of IT systems 
Roma 
Gender equality 
Synergies: civic, legal technology; digitisation of justice 
systems; promotion of gender equality; non-
discrimination; 
Robotics, transfer and access of data. 
Digitalisation and interconnection of IT systems 
Women in research 
Synergies: civic, legal technology; digitisation of justice 
systems; promotion of gender equality. 
Training of SMEs 
Digital transformation of SMEs 
Promotion of corporate social responsibility 
Synergies: civic, legal technology; promotion of human 
rights; training SMEs on consumer law. 
Activities to prevent and combat fraud, corruption and 
any other illegal activities affecting the financial interests 
of the Union (i.a.): 
facilitating the exchange of information, experiences and 

84 

 
 
 
 

best practices, including staff exchanges; 
enhancing the degree of development of the specific 
legal and judicial protection of the financial interests of 
the Union against fraud by promoting comparative law 
analysis 

85 

 
 
 
 
Annex 5: The legal basis of the future programmes 

Programme Justice 

Art 81(1&2), art 82(1). 

Empowering 
people 

Art. 16(2), art 19(2), art 21(2), 
art 24 & art 167  

ordinary procedure under 
title V of TFEU 

ordinary procedure 

European 
culture, 
Values and 
Rights 
programme 

MEDIA 

Culture 

Art 166(4), art 167(5) first 
indent & art 173(3) 

ordinary procedure 

Art 166(4), art 167(5) first 
indent & art 173(3) 

ordinary procedure 

86 

 
 
  
 
 
Annex 6 : Policy documents from EU institutions 

RIGHTS EQUALITY and CITIZENSHIP 

The European institutions have stressed the importance of developing those policies covered by the 
Rights,  Equality  and  Citizenship  Programme  on  numerous  occasions.  Before  its  launch  in  2014, 
various  acts  adopted  the  Council  and  the  European  Parliament  underlined  the  general  need  to 
combat  discrimination,  xenophobia  and  homophobia,  to  foster  and  support  gender  equality  and  to 
protect  vulnerable  groups  such  as  Roma,  women  and  children  from  any  forms  of  oppression  or 
violence. Since the beginning of its implementation, then, the institutions have continued to address 
these issues and repeatedly referred to the REC programme in corresponding policy documents:  

  Council  Conclusions  of  11  December  2014  on  Gender  equality  in  the  EU:  the  way  forward  after 
2015. Taking stock of 20 years of implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (16891/14); 
  EP Resolution of 3 February 2016 on the new Strategy for Women's Rights and Gender Equality in 

Europe post-2015 (2016/2526(RSP)); 

  EP  Resolution  of 12 December 2017 on the EU Citizenship  Report 2017: Strengthening  Citizens’ 

Rights in a Union of Democratic Change (2017/2069(INI)) 

  EP Resolution of 7 February 2018 on protection and non-discrimination with regard to minorities in 

the EU Member States (2017/2937(RSP)). 

  EP  Resolution  of  25  February  2014  with  recommendations  to  the  Commission  on  combating 

Violence Against Women (2013/2004(INL)); 

  EP  Resolution  of  24  November  2015  on  cohesion  policy  and  marginalised  communities 

(2014/2247(INI)); 

  EP Resolution of 24 November 2016 on the EU accession to the Istanbul Convention on preventing 

and combating violence against women (2016/2966(RSP)). 

Finally,  both  the  Council  and  the  Parliament  have  explicitly  invited  the  Commission  to  further 
develop and extend the programme in such areas as: 

  gender equality, EP Resolution of 14 March 2017 on EU funds for gender equality (2016/2144(INI)) 
 
the  fight  against  the  discrimination  of  Roma,  EP  Resolution  of  25  October  2017  on  fundamental 
rights aspects in Roma integration in the EU: fighting anti-Gypsyism (2017/2038(INI)) 
the  European  Citizens'  Initiative  EP  Resolution  of  28  October  2015  on  the  European  Citizens’ 
Initiative (2014/2257(INI)) 
the  general  promotion  of  EU  citizenship  rights.  Council  Conclusions  of  11  May  2017  on  the  EU 
Citizenship Report 2017 (9080/17) 

 

 

  as well as on combating disability-related discrimination : 
  COMMUNICATION  FROM  THE  COMMISSION  TO  THE  EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT,  THE 
COUNCIL,  THE  EUROPEAN  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  COMMITTEE  AND  THE 
COMMITTEE  OF  THE  REGIONS  European  Disability  Strategy  2010-2020:  A  Renewed 
Commitment to a Barrier-Free Europe {SEC(2010) 1323} {SEC(2010) 1324} 

  COUNCIL  DECISION  of  26  November  2009  concerning  the  conclusion,  by  the  European 
Community,  of  the  United  Nations  Convention  on  the  Rights  of  Persons  with  Disabilities, 
(2010/48/EC) 

87 

 
 
  European Parliament resolution of 7 July 2016 on the implementation of the UN Convention on the 
Rights of Persons with Disabilities, with special regard to the Concluding Observations of the UN 
CRPD Committee (2015/2258(INI)) 

  European Parliament resolution of 30 November 2017 on implementation of the European Disability 

Strategy (2017/2127(INI) 

  Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - Concluding observations on the initial report 

of the European Union - 2 October 2015 

Annual  EP  Resolution  on  Fundamental  Rights  and  Council  conclusions  on  the  application  of  the 
Charter in response to Commission Charter report.  Both the EP resolution and Council conclusion 
highlight pressing fundamental rights issues and avenues for progress. 

Non-discrimination  ,  LGBTI  and  Roma  issues  are  always  present  in  the  EP  resolutions  on 
Fundamental Rights.  

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P8-TA-2017-
0010+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN 

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&reference=A8-2017-
0294&language=EN 

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+MOTION+B8-2015-
0326+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN 

Council conclusions: 

Accelerating the Process of Roma Integration - Council Conclusions (8 December 2016) 

http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-15406-2016-INIT/en/pdf 

Council recommendation on effective Roma integration measures in the member states 

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/lsa/139979.pdf 

Every year the Commission issues a Report on the implementation of the EU Roma framework: 

https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/national-roma-integration-strategies-annual-reports_en 

The European Pillar of Social Rights: 

  COMMUNICATION  FROM  THE  COMMISSION  TO  THE  EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT,  THE 
COUNCIL,  THE  EUROPEAN  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  COMMITTEE  AND  THE 
COMMITTEE  OF  THE  REGIONS  Establishing  a  European  Pillar  of  Social  Rights 
(COM/2017/0250 final) 

  COMMISSION  STAFF  WORKING  DOCUMENT  Report  of 

the  public  consultation 
Accompanying  the  document  COMMUNICATION  FROM  THE  COMMISSION  TO  THE 
EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT,  THE  COUNCIL,  THE  EUROPEAN  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE  AND  THE  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  REGIONS  Establishing  a  European  Pillar  of 
Social Rights (SWD/2017/0206 final) 

88 

 
 
 
  COMMISSION 

document 
STAFF  WORKING  DOCUMENT  Accompanying 
COMMUNICATION  FROM  THE  COMMISSION  TO  THE  EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT,  THE 
COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE 
REGIONS Establishing a European Pillar of Social Rights (SWD/2017/0201 final) 

the 

  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Social Scoreboard Accompanying the document 
COMMUNICATION  FROM  THE  COMMISSION  TO  THE  EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT,  THE 
COUNCIL,  THE  EUROPEAN  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  COMMITTEE  AND  THE 
COMMITTEE  OF  THE  REGIONS  Establishing  a  European  Pillar  of  Social  Rights 
(SWD/2017/0200 final) 

  Proposal  for  a  Interinstitutional  Proclamation  on 

the  European  Pillar  of  Social  Rights 

(COM/2017/0251 final) 

MEDIA 

The  Conclusions  of  the  Council  and  of  the  Representatives  of  the  Governments  of  the  Member 
States,  meeting  within  the  Council,  on  media  freedom  and  pluralism  in  the  digital  environment 
(2014/C 32/04) invited the Commission, within its competence to:  

  continue  to  support  projects  that  aim  at  enhancing  the  protection  of  journalists  and  media 

practitioners; 

  continue to support the independent monitoring tool for assessing risks to media pluralism in the EU 
(Media Pluralism Monitor), which is implemented by the European University Institute of Florence, 
and encourage its further use by Member States and all relevant stakeholders; 

European  Parliament  resolution  of  21  May  2013  on  the  EU  Charter:  standard  settings  for  media 
freedom across the EU (2011/2246(INI))  

The  2015  Latvian  Council  Conclusions  on  ‘Creative  crossovers  to  stimulate  innovation  in  society 
and business'  invite the Commission to invest into synergies between technology and the cultural 
sector, in particular the arts. 

See 
content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52015XG0527(03)&qid=1442927546088&from=EN 

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-

The  upcoming  (publication  date  April  2018)  Commission  communication  on  social  media  (in 
particular  on  disinformation)  highlights  the  ever  increasing  role  of  social  media  for  our  societal 
debates. This aspect needs to be taken up in a Rights, Equality and Citizenship programme 

EUROPE FOR CITIZENS 

• 
European Parliament's  Report of 1 March 2017 on the implementation of Council Regulation 
(EU)  No  390/2014  of  14  April  2014  establishing  the  Europe  for  Citizens  programme 
(2015/2329(INI)); 

89 

 
 
 
 
 
See: 
0063+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN 

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P8-TA-2017-

In  its  implementation  report,  the  European  Parliament  expressed  its  support  of  the  Europe  for 
Citizens programme and called for an increased budget of 500 million EUR for the next Europe for 
Citizens programme or its successor improve success rates.  

European Economic and Social Committee: "Financing of Civil Society Organisations by the 

• 
EU", own-initiative opinion by Jean Marc Roirant of 19 October 2017, EESC 2017, 01953. 

See:https://dm.eesc.europa.eu/EESCDocumentSearch/Pages/opinionsresults.aspx?k=(rapporteur:RO
IRANT)(documentlanguage:EN)  

The  own  initiative  report  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social  committee  includes  the 
recommendation to allocate under the next MFF an amount of 500 million EUR to the future Europe 
for Citizens programme  or its successor. 

JUSTICE 

On the European Judicial Network in civil and commercial matters (EJN Civil), the Council adopted 
conclusions on the European Judicial Network in civil and commercial matters (15349/16) on 8 and 
9 December 2016 and there were also Conclusions of the European Council on 26-27 June 2014 in 
the area of freedom, security and justice (including on judicial cooperation in civil matters). More 
recently, the European Parliament issued a Resolution on 16 February 2017 with recommendations 
to the Commission on Civil Law Rules on Robotics, asking the Commission to act. The European 
Council of October 2017 also invited the Commission to come forward with a European approach to 
artificial  intelligence  by  early  2018.  In  December  2017  the  Joint  Declaration  of  the  European 
Parliament, the Council and the Commission on the EU's legislative priorities for 2018-19 stressed 
the need to make progress on the issue of artificial intelligence and robotics. 

In  its  June  2016  Conclusions  on  improving  criminal  justice  in  cyberspace,  the  Council  asked  the 
Commission to explore possible solutions, including legislative options, to improving cross-border 
access  to  electronic  evidence:  Conclusions  of  the  Council  of  the  European  Union  on  improving 
criminal justice in cyberspace, ST9579/16. 

The  European  Parliament  similarly  highlighted  the  challenges  that  the  currently  fragmented  legal 
framework can create and called to put forward a European legal framework including safeguards 
for the rights and freedoms of all concerned : P8_TA(2017)0366. 

On 20 November 2015, the Council adopted Conclusions on enhancing the criminal justice response 
to radicalisation leading to terrorism and violent extremism (14419/15). These conclusions urged all 
relevant stakeholders to implement the appropriate actions at national level, such as the setting up 
de-radicalisation, disengagement and rehabilitation programmes in  and outside prisons, developing 
risk assessment tools to give suitable criminal justice responses for each radicalised individual and 
training  all  professionals  involved.  The  Commission  committed,  for  its  part,  that  the  necessary 
financial  resources  are  made  available  to  support  the  Member  States  in  the  development  of  those 
actions. 

90 

 
 
Both the Council of the EU and the European Parliament have been strong proponents of the work 
towards the digitalisation of the judiciary, dematerialisation of proceedings, in particular in a cross-
border  context,  and  the  provision  of  digital  tools  towards  facilitating  citizens'  access  to  justice.  e-
Justice is one of identified priorities of the Presidency Trio (EE, BG and AT) and will likely remain 
a priority during the next MFF period :  

  Bulgaria’s  Justice  and  Interior  Ministers  outlined  the  Presidency  priorities  before  the  European 

Parliament's LIBE Committee, 11/01/2018: https://eu2018bg.bg/en/news/117 

  Outcome  of 

the  Council  meeting  3584th  Council  meeting,  JHA,  7-8  December  2017: 

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/32163/st15567en17-v3.pdf 

  Outcome  of 

the  Council  meeting  3473rd  Council  meeting,  JHA,  9-10  June  2016: 

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/22815/st09979en16.pdf 

  Conclusions of the Council of the European Union on improving criminal justice in cyberspace, ST 

9579/16, 9 June 2016: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/24300/cyberspace-en.pdf 

  Multiannual  European 

e-Justice  Action  Plan  2014-2018:  http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-

content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52014XG0614(01) 

  Report  on  the  situation  of  fundamental  rights  in  the  EU  in  2016,  Committee  on  Civil  Liberties, 
2018: 

Justice 
February 
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&reference=A8-2018-
0025&format=XML&language=EN 

Affairs, 

Home 

and 

13 

  Report  with  Recommendations  with  recommendations  to  the  Commission  on  common  minimum 
the  EU,  Committee  on  Legal  Affairs,  7  June  2017: 

standards  of  civil  procedure 
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&reference=A8-2017-
0210&format=XML&language=EN 

in 

  Report  on  the  EU  eGovernment  Action  Plan  2016-2020  (2016/2273(INI)),  2  May  2017: 

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+REPORT+A8-2017-
0178+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN 

  Report with recommendations to the Commission on cross border aspects of adoptions, 6 December 
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&reference=A8-2016-

2016: 
0370&format=XML&language=EN 

  Report  on  the  application  of  the  European  Order  for  Payment  Procedure,  18  October  2016: 

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&reference=A8-2016-
0299&format=XML&language=EN 

91 

 
 
Annex 7: Tentative list of indicators proposed for each programme cluster/strand (to further discussed/revised) /TO BE UPDATED 

7.1 European Culture, Rights and Values programme 

92 

 
 
93 

DGVALUES Programme/ Strand Objective type (1)Objective description Indicator type (2)Indicator description (3) Indicator - source (4) Indicator- Frequency ofmeasurement (5)Indicator- baseline value and year (6)Other metadata or notes (7)HOMEEuropean Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleSpecificto contribute to citizens' understanding of the Union, its history, cultural heritage and diversity, to strengthten  citizen's awareness of European remembrance and sense of belonging to the EUResultnumber of transnational networks and iniatives focusing on European memory and heritage as a result of programme interventionEACEA annual reportAnnual2020HOMEEuropean Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleSpecificto promote citizens' civic and democratic participation andn access to informed debate on EU policies and to pluralist quality media content and to promote and ensure the rights deriving form citizenship of the UnionResultthe number of partnerhsips involving various media outlets and civil society organisations as result of programme interventionEACEA annual reportAnnual2020HOMEEuropean Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleOperationalto foster capacity building of European civil society in order to prevent the shrinking of civic spaceResultgeographical coverage of activities EACEA annual reportAnnual25                    (2020) (1) General, Specific or Operational(2) Impacts, Results or Output(3) The description of the indicator should also include the unit of measurement ( % of persons/enterprises, euro, etc). E.g. "% of people who purchased online in last 3 months"(4) E.g.: Survey on Income and Living Conditions (Eurostat). In this field it should also be mentioned if the data are DG own estimates or projections. (5) E.g.:  Yearly or more frequent, every two years, every three years, every four years, every five years of less frequently(6) It is the reference year of the baseline (e.g. 2020).  (7) In this field all other information relevant for the analysis of the indicator to be included (e.g.: changes in the definition of the indicator affecting its comparability over time).Objective Indicator 
 
 
94 

DGVALUES Programme/ Strand Objective type (1)Objective description Indicator type (2)Indicator description (3) current / new proposalIndicator - source (4) Indicator- Frequency ofmeasurement (5)Indicator- baseline value and year (6)Target,                       other metadata or notes (7)JUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleSpecificprogress towards equal participation in the labour market: (a) female employment rate 20-64 age group (b) employment rate of people with disabilities (c) the gender pay gap (d) the percentage of women among non-executive directors on boards of listed companies context Eurostat (a, b, c)  & EIGE (d)annually(a) 66,6% (2017 Q3)(b) 47,4% (2015)(c)16,3 % (2015)(d) 25,3% Targets set for 2020 : (a) 75 % (for both women and men): Europe 2020 headline target; (b) 55 %(c) 14 %(d) 40 % set by the proposed Directive by 2027JUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleSpecificThe Programme general objective is to protect and promote rights, equality, values, cultural and linguistic diversity and heritage as enshrined in the EU Treaty and in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, in order to sustain open, democratic, inclusive and creative societies.  context Agregated indicator : share of persons aware of their rights Special Eurobarometer for the programmeEvery 3 years2020Special eurobarometer for the programme run 3 times 2020, 2023, 2027JUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleSpecificThe Programme general objective is to protect and promote rights, equality, values, cultural and linguistic diversity and heritage as enshrined in the EU Treaty and in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, in order to sustain open, democratic, inclusive and creative societies.  context Share of persons aware of their rights if they fall victims of discriminationSpecial Eurobarometer for the programmeEvery 3 years45% (2015)(next eurobarometers will be done in 2018 & 2021)Question already existing in special eurobarometers target for eurobarometer in 2021  :  70% Will be asked within the Special eurobarometer for the programme run 3 times 2020, 2023, 2027JUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleSpecificThe Programme general objective is to protect and promote rights, equality, values, cultural and linguistic diversity and heritage as enshrined in the EU Treaty and in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, in order to sustain open, democratic, inclusive context Share of women aware of their rights if they fall victims of violence Special Eurobarometer for the programmeEvery 3 years2020Special eurobarometer for the programme run 3 times 2020, 2023, 2027JUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleSpecificThe Programme general objective is to protect and promote rights, equality, values, cultural and linguistic diversity and heritage as enshrined in the EU Treaty and in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, in order to sustain open, democratic, inclusive and creative societies.  context Rate of women/men subjected to physical, sexual and domestic violence during their lifetime, by relationship to the perpetratorEurostat survey every 5 years expected2020EUROSTAT SURVEY ON THE PREVALENCE OF GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE: Eurostat coordinatesthe development of an EU-wide prevalence survey to get new data on VAW. The pilot phase in 2018involves 11 national statistics authorities with additional Member States to follow. The survey will be carried out in 2019-20.JUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleSpecificThe Programme general objective is to protect and promote rights, equality, values, cultural and linguistic diversity and heritage as enshrined in the EU Treaty and in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, in order to sustain open, democratic, inclusive and creative societies.  context Share of the population aware of their rights related to data protectionSpecial Eurobarometer for the programmeEvery 3 years2020Special eurobarometer for the programme run 3 times 2020, 2023, 2027JUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleSpecificThe Programme general objective is to protect and promote rights, equality, values, cultural and linguistic diversity and heritage as enshrined in the EU Treaty and in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, in order to sustain open, democratic, inclusive and creative societies.  context Share of the population aware of their rights related to the EU citizenshipSpecial Eurobarometer for the programmeEvery 3 years2020Special eurobarometer for the programme run 3 times 2020, 2023, 2027JUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleSpecificThe Programme general objective is to protect and promote rights, equality, values, cultural and linguistic diversity and heritage as enshrined in the EU Treaty and in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, in order to sustain open, democratic, inclusive and creative societies.  context “Feeling like a citizen of the European Union” Standard EurobarometerYearly70% Europeans feel that they are citizens of the EU (2017)Baseline value could be updated in 2020, as Standard EB done each year. Objective Indicator 
 
 
95 

JUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleOperational(a)          to promote the effective implementation of the principle of equality between women and men and to combat  discrimination on grounds of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, and to respect the principle of non-discrimination on the grounds provided for in Article 21 of the Charter;ResultNumber of persons reached by training activities DG Justice / SYGMAYearlyJUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleOperational(a)          to promote the effective implementation of the principle of equality between women and men and to combat  discrimination on grounds of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, and to respect the principle of non-discrimination on the grounds provided for in Article 21 of the Charter;ResultNumber of persons reached by  mutual learning and exchange of good practices activitiesDG Justice / SYGMAYearlyJUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleOperational(a)       to prevent and combat inequalities and discrimination, and to promote and support equality between women and men, gender mainstreaming and anti-discrimination on grounds provided for in Article 19 of the TFEU and Article 21 of the CharterResultNumber of persons reached by awareness raising, information and dissemination activities DG Justice / SYGMAYearlyJUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleOperational(b)          to prevent and combat all forms of violence against children, young people and women, as well as violence against other groups at risk and to promote and protect the rights of the child;ResultNumber of persons reached by training activities DG Justice / SYGMAYearlyJUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleOperational(b)          to prevent and combat all forms of violence against children, young people and women, as well as violence against other groups at risk and to promote and protect the rights of the child;ResultNumber of persons reached by  mutual learning and exchange of good practices activitiesDG Justice / SYGMAYearlyJUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleOperational(b)          to prevent and combat all forms of violence against children, young people and women, as well as violence against other groups at risk and to promote and protect the rights of the child;ResultNumber of persons reached by awareness raising, information and dissemination activities DG Justice / SYGMAYearlyJUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleOperational(c)          to promote and protect the rights related to privacy and personal data; ResultNumber of persons reached by training activities DG Justice / SYGMAYearlyJUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleOperational(c)          to promote and protect the rights related to privacy and personal data; ResultNumber of persons reached by  mutual learning and exchange of good practices activitiesDG Justice / SYGMAYearlyJUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleOperational(c)          to promote and protect the rights related to privacy and personal data; ResultNumber of persons reached by awareness raising, information and dissemination activities DG Justice / SYGMAYearlyJUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleOperational(d)         to promote and ensure the rights deriving from citizenship of the Union ResultNumber of persons reached by training activities DG Justice / SYGMA Yearly JUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleOperational(d)         to promote and ensure the rights deriving from citizenship of the Union ResultNumber of persons reached  mutual learning and exchange of good practices activitiesDG Justice / SYGMA YearlyJUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleOperational(d)         to promote and ensure the rights deriving from citizenship of the Union ResultNumber of persons reached by awareness raising, information and dissemination activities DG Justice / SYGMA Yearly 
 
 
96 

JUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleOperational(a) raising awareness, information and dissemination to improve the knowledge and the enjoyment of rights in the field of gender equality, anti-discrimination, anti-racism, rights of the child, combatting violence, data protection.OutputNumber of awareness raising, information and dissemination activities DG Justice / SYGMAYearlyJUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleOperational(b) promoting mutual learning, exchange of good practices among stakeholders  to improve mutual knowledge and understanding, societal engagement and enhancing mutual trust among all stakeholders in the field of gender equality, anti-discrimination, anti-racism, rights of the child, combatting violence, data protectionOutputNumber of mutual learning and exchange of good practices activitiesDG Justice / SYGMAYearlyJUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleOperational(c) implementing analytical and monitoring activities to improve the understanding of the situation in the field of gender equality, anti-discrimination, anti-racism, rights of the child, combatting violence, data protection as well as to improve the implementation of EU law and policies in the Member StatesOutputNumber of analytical and monitoring activitiesDG Justice / SYGMAYearlyJUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleOperational(d)          Training relevant stakeholders to improve the knowledge and the enjoyment of rights in the field of gender equality, anti-discrimination, anti-racism, rights of the child, combatting violence, data protection.OutputNumber of training activitiesDG Justice / SYGMAYearlyJUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleOperational(e) developing the capacity of key European level networks to promote and further develop Community policy goals and strategies in the areas of the programme; OutputNumber of network supported through operating grantDG Justice / SYGMAYearlyJUST European Culture, Rights and Values / Empowering PeopleSpecificFor each specific objectivesOutputthe number of grants,   the level of funding  granted and the level of total funding (grants+ cofinancement) in relation to each specific objectivesDG JusticeYearly(1) General, Specific or Operational(2) Impacts, Results or Output(3) The description of the indicator should also include the unit of measurement ( % of persons/enterprises, euro, etc). E.g. "% of people who purchased online in last 3 months"(4) E.g.: Survey on Income and Living Conditions (Eurostat). In this field it should also be mentioned if the data are DG own estimates or projections. (5) E.g.:  Yearly or more frequent, every two years, every three years, every four years, every five years of less frequently(6) It is the reference year of the baseline (e.g. 2020).  (7) In this field all other information relevant for the analysis of the indicator to be included (e.g.: changes in the definition of the indicator affecting its comparability over time). 
 
 
97 

DGVALUES Programme / StrandObjective type (1)Objective description Indicator type (2)Indicator description (3) current / new proposalIndicator - source (4) Indicator- Frequency ofmeasurement (5)Indicator - baseline value and year (6)Other metadata or notes (7)CNECT European Culture, Rights and Values / MEDIASpecificStrengthen the competitiveness of the European audiovisual industry and promote cultural diversity and European valuesResultThe number of people accessing European audiovisual works from countries other than their own and supported by the MEDIA ProgrammeMEDIA project final reportsYearly2020CNECT European Culture, Rights and Values / MEDIAOperationalNurture talents and skills to foster the international competitiveness of the European audiovisual sectorResultThe number of participants of learning activities supported by the Programme who assess they have improved their competences and increased their employability MEDIA project final reports on basis of surveys of participantsYearly2020CNECT European Culture, Rights and Values / MEDIAOperationalStimulate collaboration, and innovation in the creation and production of European audiovisual worksResultThe number of co-productions developed and created with the support of the MEDIA Programme MEDIA project final reports on basis of surveys of participantsYearly2020CNECT European Culture, Rights and Values / MEDIAOperationalEnhance distribution and provide wider access to European audiovisual works, including through innovative business modelsResultThe number of non-national cinema admissions of European films distributed with the support of the MEDIA Programme in programme countries MEDIA project final reports on basis of surveys of participantsYearly2020CNECT European Culture, Rights and Values / MEDIAOperationalPromote European audiovisual works across Europe and beyond, and support audience developmentResultThe number of people reached by business to business promotional activities in major marketsMEDIA project final reports on basis of surveys of participantsYearly2020CNECT European Culture, Rights and Values / Cross-strand supportOperationalSupport access to finance and the development of innovative models of financing for European audiovisual playersResultThe number of SMEs and micro, small and medium- sized organisations benefiting from the Guarantee FacilityMEDIA project final reports on basis of surveys of participantsQuarterly2020CNECT European Culture, Rights and Values / Cross-strand supportOperationalComplement and support policy actions – including through the provision of reliable data and exchange of best practices – and support effective implementation and monitoring of Union law instruments and policiesResultThe number of Member States participating in policy exchanges supported by the MEDIA programmeannual surveyYearly2020(1) General, Specific or Operational(2) Impacts, Results or Output(3) The description of the indicator should also include the unit of measurement ( % of persons/enterprises, euro, etc). E.g. "% of people who purchased online in last 3 months"(4) E.g.: Survey on Income and Living Conditions (Eurostat). In this field it should also be mentioned if the data are DG own estimates or projections. (5) E.g.:  Yearly or more frequent, every two years, every three years, every four years, every five years of less frequently(6) It is the reference year of the baseline (e.g. 2020).  (7) In this field all other information relevant for the analysis of the indicator to be included (e.g.: changes in the definition of the indicator affecting its comparability over time).Objective Indicator 
 
 
 
98 

DGVALUES Programme/Strand Objective type (1)Objective description Indicator type (2)Indicator description (3)   current / new proposalIndicator - source (4) Indicator- Frequency ofmeasurement (5)Indicator- baseline value and year (6)Other metadata or notes (7)EACCulture, Rights and Values / CultureSpecificTo strengthen the competitiveness of the European cultural and creative sectors ImpactContribution of the Cultural and Creative Sectors generated by the Culture strand of the Programme to the EU economy in terms of added value (Investment / sales  / turnover)Project's data / ORBIS database Yearly2021EACCulture, Rights and Values / CultureOperationalTo strengthen the cross-border dimension of the European culture and creative sectors (CCS) within Europe and beyond, stimulating circulation of artists and distribution of works and creating export and international promotion opportunitiesResultNumber and scale of transnational partnerships created with the support of the Programme.Project's dataYearly2021EACCulture, Rights and Values / CultureOperationalTo strengthen the cross-border dimension of the European culture and creative sectors (CCS) within Europe and beyond, stimulating circulation of artists  and distribution of works and creating export and international promotion opportunitiesResultNumber of artists & cultural &/or creative players (geographically) mobile beyond national borders due to Programme support (by country of origin)Project's dataYearly2021EACCulture, Rights and Values / CultureOperationalTo contribute to audience development and social inclusion allowing for more cultural participationResultNumber of people accessing European cultural and creative works generated by the Programme, including works from countries other than their own (non-national).Project's dataYearly2021EACCulture, Rights and Values / CultureOperationalSectorial support to the music and book sectorOutputIncreased number of works (including digital)  sold as a result of the programme support (by category: music / books / other)Project's dataYearly2021(1) General, Specific or Operational(2) Impacts, Results or Output(3) The description of the indicator should also include the unit of measurement ( % of persons/enterprises, euro, etc). E.g. "% of people who purchased online in last 3 months"(4) E.g.: Survey on Income and Living Conditions (Eurostat). In this field it should also be mentioned if the data are DG own estimates or projections. (5) E.g.:  Yearly or more frequent, every two years, every three years, every four years, every five years of less frequently(6) It is the reference year of the baseline (e.g. 2020).  (7) In this field all other information relevant for the analysis of the indicator to be included (e.g.: changes in the definition of the indicator affecting its comparability over time).Objective Indicator 
 
 
 
7.2 Justice programme

99 

DGCluster/Programme Objective type (1)Objective description Indicator type (2)Indicator description (3) CURRENT / NEWIndicator - source (4) Indicator- Frequency ofmeasurement (5)Indicator- baseline value and year (6)Target, other metadata or notes (7)JUSTGeneralto contribute to the further development of a European area of justice based on the rule of law, on mutual recognition and mutual trust and the effectiveness of national justice systemsContextAverage time of the surrender procedure (time between the arrest and the decision on the surrender of the person sought) under the European Arrest Warrant in cases where the person consents to the surrenderDG Justice from national reports to Council EAW annual statisticsyearly14 days (2015)Target for 2020 : 10 daysJUSTGeneralto contribute to the further development of a European area of justice based on the rule of law, on mutual recognition and mutual trust and the effectiveness of national justice systemsImpactCumulative number of legal professionals receiving training (not only through the Programme) on EU law or law of another Member State, including Civil Justice, Criminal Justice and Fundamental Rights (since 2011)DG JusticeJudicial Training Reportyearly638 000 (2016)target for 2020 :700 000set in the 2011-2020 European judicial training strategyJUSTGeneralto contribute to the further development of a European area of justice based on the rule of law, on mutual recognition and mutual trust and the effectiveness of national justice systemsContextShare of citizens that consider that is easy to access civil and criminal justice in another MSSpecial Eurobarometer for the programme run 3 times 2020, 2023, 20272020, 2023, 2027JUSTGeneralto contribute to the further development of a European area of justice based on the rule of law, on mutual recognition and mutual trust and the effectiveness of national justice systemsContextPerceived independence of courts and judges among the general public : share of respondents who think their justice system is good as regards the independence of courtsand judgesEurobarometer  / Justice scoreboardyearly55% (2017)JUSTSpecific(a) to facilitate and support judicial cooperation in civil and criminal mattersResultthe number of hits on the e justice portal / pages addressing the need for information on cross-border civil casesDG Justiceyearlyreflects the need for information on the cross-border civil case. EJN website is now integrated in the ejustice portalJUSTSpecific(a) to facilitate and support judicial cooperation in civil and criminal mattersResultnumber of exchanges of information in the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS)DG Justiceyearly2 571 991 (2017)target for 2020:  3 500 000JUSTSpecific(a) to facilitate and support judicial cooperation in civil and criminal mattersResultNumber of persons reached by  mutual learning and exchange of good practices activitiesDG Justice / SYGMAyearlyJUSTSpecific(a) to facilitate and support judicial cooperation in civil and criminal mattersResultNumber of persons reached by awareness raising, information and dissemination activities DG Justice / SYGMAyearlyJUSTSpecific(b) to promote the rule of law by supporting the efforts to improve the effectiveness of national justice systems, and supporting EU judicial networks acting in this areaResultNumber of persons reached by  mutual learning and exchange of good practices activitiesDG Justice / SYGMAyearlyJUSTSpecific(b) to promote the rule of law by supporting the efforts to improve the effectiveness of national justice systems, and supporting EU judicial networks ResultNumber of persons reached by awareness raising, information and dissemination activities DG Justice / SYGMAyearlyJUSTSpecific(c) to support and promote judicial training, including language training on legal terminology, with a view to fostering a common legal and judicial culture;ResultNumber of members of the judiciary and judicial staff who participated in training activities (including staff exchanges, study visits, workshops and seminars) funded by the Programme, including by the operating grant of the EJTNDG Justiceyearly13 943 (2016)target for 2020: 16 000JUSTSpecific(d) to facilitate effective access to justice for all, including by electronic means, and by promoting and supporting the rights of victims of crime as well as the procedural rights of suspects and accused persons in criminal proceedingsResultNumber of persons reached  mutual learning and exchange of good practices activitiesDG Justice / SYGMAyearlyJUSTSpecific(d) to facilitate effective access to justice for all, including by electronic means, and by promoting and supporting the rights of victims of crime as well as the procedural rights of suspects and accused persons in criminal proceedingsResultNumber of persons reached by awareness raising, information and dissemination activities DG Justice / SYGMAyearlyJUSTSpecific(d) to facilitate effective access to justice for all, including by electronic means, and by promoting and supporting the ResultNumber of hits on the e-justice portalDG Justiceyearly2 690 574 (2017)VALUES / JUSTICEVALUES / JUSTICEObjective Indicator 
 
 
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JUSTOperational(a) raising awareness, information and dissemination to improve the knowledge of Union policies and of Union law including substantive and procedural law, of judicial cooperation instruments and of the relevant case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, and of comparative law;OutputNumber of awareness raising, information and dissemination activities DG Justice / SYGMAyearlyJUSTOperational(b) implementing analytical and monitoring activities to improve the knowledge and understanding of potential obstacles to the smooth functioning of a European area of justice and to improve the implementation of EU law and policies in the Member States and the monitoring and evaluation thereof;OutputNumber of analytical and monitoring activitiesDG Justice / SYGMAyearlyJUSTOperational(c) promoting mutual learning, exchange of good practices among stakeholders to improve mutual knowledge and understanding of the civil and criminal law and the legal and judicial systems of the Member States and enhancing mutual trust;OutputNumber of mutual learning and exchange of good practices activitiesDG Justice / SYGMAyearlyJUSTOperational(d) training relevant stakeholders to improve the knowledge of Union policies and Union law including substantive and procedural law, of judicial cooperation instruments and of the relevant case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, and of comparative lawOutputNumber of training activities/daysDG Justice / SYGMAyearlyJUSTOperational(e) developing and maintaining  ICT tools to improve the efficiency of judicial systems and their cooperation by means of information and communication technology, including the cross-border interoperability of systems and applications.OutputNumber of ICT tools supported DG Justice / SYGMAyearlyJUSTOperational(f) developing the capacity of key European level networks to promote and further develop Community policy goals and strategies in the areas of the programme; OutputNumber of network supported through operating grantDG Justice / SYGMAyearly(1) General, Specific or Operational(2) Impacts, Results or Output(3) The description of the indicator should also include the unit of measurement ( % of persons/enterprises, euro, etc). E.g. "% of people who purchased online in last 3 months"(4) E.g.: Survey on Income and Living Conditions (Eurostat). In this field it should also be mentioned if the data are DG own estimates or projections. (5) E.g.: Yearly or more frequent, every two years, every three years, every four years, every five years of less frequently(6) It is the reference year of the baseline (e.g. 2020).(7) In this field all other information relevant for the analysis of the indicator to be included (e.g.: changes in the definition of the indicator affecting its comparability over time).VALUES / JUSTICE 
 
 
End notes 

1 COM(2018) 98 "A new, modern Multiannual Financial Framework for a European Union that delivers efficiently on its priorities 
post-2020". 

2 The 2005 UNESCO Convention promotes artistic freedom as a pillar of the fundamental freedom of expression. 

3 http://mastersandservers.org 

4 See references to policy documents Annex 6.  

5  The  European  Parliament  has  made  this  orientation  clear  on  many  occasions  notably  in  its  resolution  of  7  July  2016  on  the 
implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, with special regard to the Concluding Observations 
of the UN CRPD Committee (2015/2258(INI)). 

6  For  example,  for  the  Cinema  Automatic  distribution  scheme,  out  of  433  funded  companies,  it  is  estimated  that  411  would  have 
scaled down or stopped cross-border distribution of European films. 

7 The success rate of support schemes declined in 2014-16 compared to 2007-13, reflecting that the schemes are insufficiently funded 
compared to the potential interest they generate.  16% compared to 26% for the Culture sub-programme and 39% compared to 47% 
for  the MEDIA  sub-programme  (NB some  MEDIA  support  is  "automatic", whereas  some  support  schemes  have only  15%  success 
rates). As an average the selected projects had to score 84,5% of the maximum possible evaluation marks. During the same period 712 
high quality projects (those which scored between 70% and 84,5% of the maximum possible evaluation marks) could not be funded. 
The extra cost for funding these 712 high quality projects is estimated to 424 Million Euros. 

8 70% MEDIA and 90% Culture subprogramme stakeholders confirmed current priorities are relevant or extremely relevant. 

9 Creative Europe MEDIA: Implementation, First Experiences, 2016, European Parliament. 

10  The  box  office  of  non-national  films  remains  fixed  at  approximate  average  of  10%  of  the  market,  showing  there  is  room  for 
improvement in distribution and promotion of EU works.  

11  From2014-16  an  average  €5.6  mio  were  allocated  to  19  VOD  companies  per  year.    Revenue  growth  of  the  seven  supported 
subscription services was 7%, significantly lower than the sector overall at 113%.   

12  Creative Europe MEDIA: Implementation, First Experiences, 2016, European Parliament. 

13 The EP Report on a coherent EU policy for cultural and creative industries (November 2016) highlighted how in 2014, 1,6% of EU 
total exports were cultural goods. 

14  European  Parliament  Report  on  the  implementation  of  Council  Regulation  (EU)  No 390/2014  of  14 April  2014  establishing  the 
Europe for Citizens programme (2015/2329(INI)). 

15  In  2014  the  new structure  included  only two  strands  accompanied  by a  horizontal action compared to  four action  strands in  the 
previous programme 2007-2013. 

16 Currently the MEDIA unit at the EACEA manages 23% of the agency's budget but is responsible for 41% of the total financial 
transactions. 

17 The external mid-term evaluation recommended to reward beneficiaries which have scaled up their projects. 

18 This has been signalled in several reports. The mid-term evaluation indicates that existing indicators are regularly monitored but 
there  are  some  data  gaps  about  performance  stemming  from  indicators  not  always  being  sufficiently  related  to  the  support  of  the 
Programme.      The  performance  audit  on  the  Access  to  Markets  scheme  (Moore  Stephens,  November  2017)  underlined  the  need  to 
define KPIs  focusing on performance aspects.  The EP report (June 2016, EPRS) found that monitoring was an area for improvement 
and noted "Considering the specific objectives of the programme (Art. 4), as well as the objectives set for the two programme strands, 
one consideration is the partial misalignment between the system of result indicators and the programme objectives." 

19 https://www.tui-stiftung.de/en/media/young-europe-2017-the-youth-study-of-tui-foundation/ 

20 https://www.tui-stiftung.de/en/media/young-europe-2017-the-youth-study-of-tui-foundation/ 

21 2015 EB on electoral rights. & EU Citizenship Report 2017 

22 26% of respondents to the 2015 Euro Barometer on EU citizenship do not feel sufficiently informed about what to do if their rights 
are not respected. 

23  According  to  the  2015  Public  consultation  on  EU  citizenship,  21%  of  respondents  said  they  had  experienced  difficulties  in 
exercising their electoral rights when living in another EU country. 

24 http://ec.europa.eu/justice/discrimination/files/thematic_factsheet_lgbt_en.pdf 

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25 http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2016/eumidis-ii-roma-selected-findings 

26  In  2016,  a  majority  of  respondents  to  a  public  consultation  considered  that  people  with  disabilities  cannot  fully  participate  in 
society, do not enjoy the same rights as other citizens and face discrimination The results of this public consultation were analysed in 
the  Commission  Staff  Working  Document,  "Progress  Report  on  the  implementation  of  the  European  Disability  Strategy  (2010  -
2020)", SWD(2017) 29 final of 2.02.2017. 

27 http://ec.europa.eu/justice/fundamental-rights/files/factsheet_eurobarometer_fundamental_rights_2015.pdf 

28 One in three women in the EU have experienced physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 15,; Fundamental Rights Agency 
(2014),  Violence  against  women:  an  EU-wide  survey  http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra-2014-vaw-survey-main-results-
apr14_en.pdf. 

29  The  current  context  is  characterised,  for  instance,  by  an  unequal  participation  of  women  and  men  in  the  labour  market,  an  EU 
average  gender  pay  gap  of  16.3%,  an  unbalanced  representation  of  women  and  men  in  decision-making    -  2017  report  on  equality 
between women and men. 

30 Impact assessment accompanying the communication for a proposal of a directive establishing minimum standards on the rights, 
support  and  protection  of  victims  of  crime  and  for  proposal  for  a  regulation  on  mutual  recognition  of  protection  measures  in  civil 
matters, SEC(2011) 580 final of 18.5.2011; Impact assessment accompanying the proposal for a directive on the rights of access to a 
lawyer and of notification of custody to a third person in criminal proceedings, SEC(2011) 686 final of 8.6.2011. 

31  For  the  audio-visual  sector,  several  reports  underpin  the  challenges  outlined  below,  namely  the  Mid-term  evaluation  on  the 
Creative Europe programme, 2018  and the future of MEDIA after 2020, a contribution to the debate, independent report Rodolphe 
Buet, 2018.    

32  What  makes  these  majors  so  powerful  is  the  fact  that  they  are  vertically  integrated  with  activities  spanning  production  and 
distribution, thus controlling the most important components of the global audio-visual industry’.  Ivana Katsarova (2014) European 
Parliamentary Research Service, ‘Briefing: An Overview of Europe’s Film Industry’, pp. 545,705. 

33 The market for SVOD in the EU has been stimulated by the entry of Netflix into national markets since 2012, as well as by both 
demand and supply-side reaction (EAO (2016) Background on the AF and film sector).  In 2015, the EU captured a market share of 
only around 2 percent of both unique and cumulated titles on TVOD, while the US made up 41 and 59 per cent respectively (EAO 
(2016) Background on the AF and film sector). 

34 Interim Evaluation of the Creative Europe Programme (August 2017, ICF), annex 4 on Level Playing Field. 

35  http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STATEMENT-17-1268_en.htm 

36 See details of evaluation in annex 3.  

37 The annual budget for MEDIA amounts to € 105 million as compared to an estimated value of the sector of € 17 billion. •The CCS 
contribute to 4.4% of the EU GDP (approximately EUR 558 billion) are to 3.8% of the total EU workforce (8,3 million jobs). They are 
the third largest employer of the EU, after the construction and food and beverage sectors. There were one million market-oriented 
enterprises in the CCS in 2013. The CCS have shown strong resilience during the economic crisis, with employment continuing to 
grow at 0.7% annually between 2008-2012. They employ on average more 15-29 olds than any other economic sector and are magnets 
of talent, with 60% of people with tertiary education compared to only 33% for the total working populatio 

38  The  annual  budget  of  the  Creative  Europe's  Culture  sub-progamme  amounts  to  €  65  million  while  the  size  of  the  cultural  and 
creative sectors in Europe represented approximately EUR 560 billion (or 4.5%) of the EU GDP in 2014 and employed 8.5 million 
workers (3.8% of the total European workforce).  

39  Interim  Evaluation  of  the  Creative  Europe  Programme  (August  2017,  ICF),  recommends  to  develop  a  more  coherent  response 
across the MEDIA Sub-programme to changing technologies and business models in the audiovisual sector. 

40  MEDIA  subsidies  should  be  reallocated  ..  to  ensure  that  support  pursues  structural  goals  and  encourages  the  emergence  of 
champions. The future of MEDIA after 2020, a contribution to the debate, Rodolphe Buet 2018. 

41 Ex ante impact assessment on the Creative Europe programme.  

42  Provisional  results  of  the  mid-term  evaluations  of  the  REC  and  Justice  programmes  as  well  as  the  results  of  the  mid-term 
evaluation of Europe for Citizens confirm that visibility and dissemination of the programmes' results need further improvement to 
ensure sustainability and the long-term exploitation of funded projects. 

43 in the case of Culture , there is a  financing of only around 16% of the proposals same applies for some MEDIA schemes  (single 
development 14% success rate). 

44 Creative Europe Regulation Art 5.d  

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45 Funds should focus on awareness creation with CCS actors and the provision of supporting tools that lower the barriers therefore 
permitting engagement in cross-sectoral collaborations Mapping the Creative Value chains IDEA, KEA, SMIT 2017. 

46  For  example,  experimentations  bringing  together  virtual  reality,  film,  architecture  and  literature  in  museums  or  a  slate  of  films 
raising awareness on LGBT matters could be supported. 

47 The "Music moves Europe" initiative has identified the specific needs of the music sector, for which actions are currently being 
tested in a Preparatory Action. 

48 See Communication on "Towards an integrated approach to cultural heritage for Europe" as well as the 2018 European Year of 
Cultural Heritage.  

49 More details in annex 4. 

50  This  could  benefit  to  projects  beyond  20  M  €  with  a  strong  ambition  (e.g.  animation)  or  characterized  by  both  an  innovative 
storytelling and strong commercial potential. 

51 While the US and China are most active in VR, there are European studios among the leaders.US investors are already trying to 
acquire or control these European golden nuggets; The future of MEDIA after 2020, Rodolphe Buet 2018. 

52 With an average budget of 35 M € per year MEDIA (selective, automatic and sales agents distribution schemes) has contributed to 
generate around 68 million cinema admissions each year for European films in other European countries.  A significant part of the 
automatic support was devoted to the acquisition of rights instead of promotional activities. Support to online distribution of films has 
been supported separately under the scheme promotion of European works online with an average budget of € 3 M. 

53 Presently VOD services with a rich catalogue of European works are supported individually and have declared a total number of 
1.689.310 paid for transactions for TVOD and a total number of 275.094 subscribers for SVOD principally on their domestic market. 

54 Where are these film theatres? As is to be expected, in almost all capital and major cities in the continent, but also in 269 towns 
with fewer than 100,000 residents, including 201 with fewer than 50,000 residents, where European films are regularly shown in local 
cinemas. 

55 For instance by combining movies and gaming. 

56  Build  bridges  between  cinemas  and  audiences  through  cinemas  and  festivals,    the  future  of  MEDIA  after  2020,  Rodolphe  buet 
2018.   

57 CE funds the activities of selected European Networks and Platforms in the cultural and creative sectors. The Networks support 
international cooperation, provide specific skills and experience (including adaptation to digital technologies), stimulate the creation of 
new professional opportunities. The Platforms contribute to foster the mobility and visibility of creators and artists - in particular those 
lacking  international  exposure,  to  facilitate  access  to  non-national  European  Cultural  works  via  international  touring,  events, 
exhibitions and festivals, etc., to support audience development and to provide visibility to Europe's values.  

This performance framework was designed by a "Values" working group which met in February-March 2018, composed of representatives from the 

[i] 
following DGs: JUST, HOME, CNECT, EAC, JRC, BUDG. 

Level 1 – Policy Cluster: used for communication on political priorities.

Level 2 – Programme performance indicators: and official performance reporting (AMPR & Programme Statements).

Level 3 - Programme specific indicators: not included in legal basis but and will be used by DGs for the management of the programme and for the 

[ii] 
[iii] 
[iv] 
evaluations

58 See for instance position paper of 28 February 2018 by UN Human Rights Regional Office for Europe. 

59 Final report: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/events/futureof-gender-equality-2015/files/report_forum_gender_equality_en.pdf 

60 http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/files/opinions_advisory_committee/141201_opinion_ge_eu_en.pdf 

61 https://ec.europa.eu/info/consultations/public-consultation-evaluation-eu-framework-national-roma-integration-strategies-2020_en 

62 https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/content/public-consultation-mid-term-evaluation-europe-citizens-programme-2014-2020_en 

63 See Deloitte and Coffey's mid-term evaluation report of September 2017, p.138, http://ec.europa.eu/citizenship/europe-for-citizens-
programme/studies/index_en.htm. 

64  European  Parliament  Report  on  the  implementation  of  Council  Regulation  (EU)  No 390/2014  of  14 April  2014  establishing  the 
Europe for Citizens programme (2015/2329(INI)). 

65 https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/creative-europe/creative-europe-2017-consultation_en 

66  The 2018 mid-term evaluation of the REC programme will be published in June 2018. 

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67 See in particular: 

Mid-term  evaluation  of  the  Europe  for  Citizens  programme  2007-201367,  see:  http://ec.europa.eu/citizenship/pdf/ecorys-
_final_report_europe_for_citizens_en.pdf 
http://ec.europa.eu/citizenship/europe-for-citizens-programme/programme-2007-
2013/index_en.htm  

and 

Ex post evaluation of the Europe for Citizens programme 2007-2013, see: 
http://ec.europa.eu/citizenship/pdf/final_efcp_final_report_2015_10_15.pdf and 
http://ec.europa.eu/citizenship/pdf/evaluationreportefc2007-2013_en.pdf 

Study on measuring the impact of the Europe for Citizens Programme 2007-2013 (2013)67. 

68 See Deloitte and Coffey's mid-term evaluation report of September 2017, p.138, http://ec.europa.eu/citizenship/europe-for-citizens-
programme/studies/index_en.htm. 

69 According to the estimations of direct and indirect participants in the project applications (EACEA monitoring data). 

70 See: http://ec.europa.eu/citizenship/europe-for-citizens-programme/studies/index_en.htm. 
71 new online database which helps to promote the exchange of good practice and synergies between EU funding programmes in the 
areas of education, culture and citizenship. 
72Regulation N°1381/2013 Coming from the merging of three programmes (Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, Daphné III and the 
sections  "Antidiscrimination  and  Diversity"  and  "Gender  Equality"  of  the  Programme  for  Employment  and  Social  Solidarity 
(PROGRESS). 

73  The  Daphne  programme  has  been  a  genuine  success  since  its  launch  in  1997,  both  in  terms  of  its  popularity  with  stakeholders 
(beneficiaries, public and academic authorities, NGOs) and in terms of the effectiveness of the projects funded by the programme - 
European Parliament resolution of 2 February 2012 on the Daphne programme: achievements and future prospects (2011/2273(INI)). 

74  In  2017  96%  of  people  consider  that  domestic  violence  against  women  is  unacceptable  against  84%  in  2010  Sources 
:Eurobarometers. 

75 http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/document/files/strategic_engagement_en.pdf  

76 http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/eu_funded-projects/transnational-project-summaries/index_en.htm 

77 http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/gender-decision-making/index_en.htm;http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-
equality/economic-independence/economic-growth/index_en.htm 

78 2017 citizenship report 

79  On  6  April  2016,  the  EU  agreed  to  a  major  reform  of  its  data  protection  framework,  by  adopting  the  data  protection  reform 
package, comprising the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Regulation (EU) 2016/679. 

80  Communication  from  the  Commission,  "European  Disability  Strategy  2010-2020:  A  Renewed  Commitment  to  a  Barrier-Free 
Europe", COM(2010) 636 of 15.11.2010. 

81 In February 2017, the Commission published a Progress Report presenting the achievements, up to 2016, on the implementation of 
the Strategy and restating its commitment to contribute to the full implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with 
Disabilities.  Commission  Staff  Working  Document,  "Progress  Report  on  the  implementation  of  the  European  Disability  Strategy 
(2010 -2020)", SWD(2017) 29 final of 2.02.2017. 

82 Conclusions of the European Film Forum 2015-2016 the need to invest in talent and skills . Training talent and developing skills,  
the future of MEDIA, contribution to the debate Rodolphe Buet, 2018. 

83 MEDIA co-finances the activity of development before the production of the films with a budget of around 22 M € spread thinly 
among  200  projects:  single  development  grants  for  individual  video  games  or  films  or  slate  development  granted  for  developing  a 
given selection of films. 

84  This  could  benefit  to  projects  beyond  20  M  €  with  a  strong  ambition  (e.g.  animation)  or  characterized  by  both  an  innovative 
storytelling and strong commercial potential. 

85 TV series like: the bridge Babylon Berlin, Versaille) currently supported with grants of 1 M€ per project. 

86 TV programming: MEDIA supports currently 55 television productions including series each year with a total budget of 12.5 M€.  

87 While the US and China are most active in VR, there are European studios among the leaders.US investors are already trying to 
acquire or control these European golden nuggets; The future of MEDIA after 2020, Rodolphe Buet 2018. 

88 With an average budget of 35 M € per year MEDIA (selective, automatic and sales agents distribution schemes) has contributed to 
generate around 68 million cinema admissions each year for European films in other European countries.  A significant part of  the 

104 

 
 
                                                                                                                                                                                                       
 
automatic support was devoted to the acquisition of rights instead of promotional activities. Support to online distribution of films has 
been supported separately under the scheme promotion of European works online with an average budget of € 3 M. 

89 Presently VOD services with a rich catalogue of European works are supported individually and have declared a total number of 
1.689.310 paid for transactions for TVOD and a total number of 275.094 subscribers for SVOD principally on their domestic market. 

90  The  subtitling  database  is  among  the  measures  accompanying  the  DSM  and  copyright  reform  in  order  to  increase  efficiency  in 
public funding and use of subtitling and dubbing; Commission Communication of 14/9/2016,C OM/2016/0592 final. 

91 Where are these film theatres? As is to be expected, in almost all capital and major cities in the continent, but also in 269 towns 
with fewer than 100,000 residents, including 201 with fewer than 50,000 residents, where European films are regularly shown in local 
cinemas. 

92 For instance by combining movies and gaming. 

93 The 70 festivals supported by MEDIA reach a total amount of 4 million people with a budget of 3.5 million. 

94  Build  bridges  between  cinemas  and  audiences  through  cinemas  and  festivals,    the  future  of  MEDIA  after  2020,  Rodolphe  buet 
2018.   

95 EAO,  18% of all EU films produced between 2011-2015 were exported and the number of growing. Admissions  for EU films in 
non EU markets are on average between 60 and 70 million, which represents 21% of total worldwide admissions. 

96 The inclusion of the Multimedia Actions line, which funds 'general information' on EU affairs in the proposed programme remains 
an open question. 

97 Coming from the merging of three programmes (Civil justice, Criminal Justice and Drug Prevention and information programme). 

105