Cultural Deal 
Welcome to the Cultural Deal for Europe
Imagine a Europe without culture. Imagine our cities without vibrant cultural spaces and experiences. Imagine our communities without music, theaters, libraries, creative hubs and artistic encounters.
Culture defines who we are and nurtures our becoming. Culture is the fundament of Europe and a key element of its attraction internally and externally. For Europe to thrive, it needs to recognize the power of culture, invest in its cultural ecosystem and make strategic use of its soft power.
Europe needs a Cultural Deal, a strategic vision of culture and a EU framework that positions culture centrally in its strategy and transversally across its policies. We call of the EU to place culture where it belongs: at the heart of the European project.
There is no future for Europe without culture!
The Cultural Deal for Europe initiative was launched by the European Cultural Foundation, Culture Action Europe and Europa Nostra (also as coordinator of the European Heritage Alliance) in November 2020 as a response to the devastating effects of Covid-19 on Europe’s cultural and creative sectors. That crisis did proof again how culture is a lifeline – not a luxury, but a necessity. Since then, we have mobilised hundreds of cultural actors and the EU top policymakers around four events (Annual Policy Conversations) and several advocacy actions.
The Cultural Deal for Europe calls on the EU to make culture a pillar of its internal strategy and external soft power ambitions, and to dedicate at least 2% of its future budget (Multi-annual Financial Framework 2028-2034) to culture. Europe’s democracy, sustainability, security and competitiveness will largely depend on Europe’s capacity to defend its values and freedoms in the physical and digital space, and to valorise and scale Europe’s creative power.
Join the Cultural Deal for Europe Annual Policy Conversation – 3 February 2026, Bozar, Brussels
Your next opportunity to influence EU policy thinking on culture:
Our Annual Policy Conversation has become a flagship cultural policy event in Brussels. It is a space for high-level EU policymakers and the wider culture, cultural heritage and civil society sectors to discuss current and upcoming policy challenges and opportunities and together shape the sector’s advocacy agenda for the year ahead.
The year 2026 will be important for the negotiations on the EU long-term budget (MFF 2028-2034), EU strategic priorities, and implementation of the EU’s new strategic framework for culture – the Culture Compass.
On 3 February 2026, together with Glenn Micallef, Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Culture, Youth and Sport, and other high-level policymakers, we will discuss:
- What must be done to secure a strong culture and cultural heritage provision in the next EU budget, a well resourced AgoraEU programme (culture, media, rights and values) and a powerful civil society dimension?
- How will the Culture Compass for Europe address key European challenges through culture and unleash its greater potential for the Europeans? How can the wider civil society ecosystem best reinforce our democratic values?
In the run-up to the event please find the initial responses to the Culture Compass here: Culture Action Europe, European Cultural Foundation, Europa Nostra.
PROGRAMME
15:00
Opening by moderator Fabien Miclet
15:05
Welcoming words and introduction by the partners – Lars Ebert, Secretary General CAE, André Wilkens, Director ECF, and Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailovic, Secretary General Europa Nostra
15:20
Keynote speech (tbc)
15:40
Moderated discussion with Glenn Micallef (Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport), MEP Nela Riehl, Chair of the Committee on Culture and Education, MEP Carla Tavares (tbc); Representative of Cabinet of Piotr Serafin (Commissioner on Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration, tbc), Representative of the EU Council Presidency (Cyprus, tbc)
16:20
Q&A with the public
17:25
Closing remarks
17:30
Networking reception
What did the Cultural Deal for Europe contribute to achieving?
'Culture: The Compass for Europe's Future'. The 2025 Annual Policy Conversation
On 4 February 2025 at Bozar we hosted the first public discussion on the EU’s future Culture Compass for Europe, announced by the European Commission.
The event brought together a broad community of policymakers, cultural voices and civil-society actors. Speakers included the European Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport Glenn Micallef; the Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) Nela Riehl; Members of the European Parliament from the CULT and BUDG Committees: Laurence Farreng, Hannes Heide, Zoltan Tarr and Helder Sousa-Silva; representatives of the EU Council Presidency such as Marta Cienkowska, Deputy Minister for Culture and Heritage of Poland; as well as city representatives, emerging artists and civil-society partners from Ukraine, Georgia and Serbia. More than 120 people joined in person and over 1,000 followed online.
The discussions reflected the moment Europe was in: with civic protests in Georgia and Serbia, and the ongoing Russian war on Ukraine, cultural actors continue working to protect democratic space and strengthen solidarity. The Cultural Deal partners issued joint statements on Georgia and Serbia, and ECF previously led work on a European Cultural Deal for Ukraine.
Cultural Deal for Europe on demand
We have created a playlist of video recordings of Cultural Deal for Europe 2025, 2023, 2022 and 2020 conversations, including video speeches Sabine Verheyen, David Sassoli and Clément Beaune.
Cultural Deal for Europe in the media
Over the years the Cultural Deal for Europe featured in various European media. Continue reading on EU Observer [January 2026], Creatives Unite [February 2025], EU Observer [December 2024], Euronews [June 2024], The Parliament Magazine [October 2023].
Read our proposed mission letter for a strong Commissioner for Culture with robust responsibilities (2024).