PAN MEP wants more European investment for Culture

Lisbon, 27 April 2020 – MEP Francisco Guerreiro (PAN) wrote a question to the European Commission (EC) to know if cultural financing will be improved in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027. The MEP used the new report of the European Court of Auditors (ECA) on European Union (EU) investments in cultural sites (Special Report 08/2020) to raise the issue. 

The ECA says in this April 2020 report that the EC should improve the current strategic framework for culture, encourage the use of private funds to safeguard Europe’s cultural heritage and strengthen the financial sustainability of cultural sites funded by the ERDF.

With this in mind, the MEP questioned if the Commission wishes to improve the finacing and the current strategic framework for culture, as well as strengthen the financial sustainability of Member States cultural sites funded by the ERDF, which are still very dependent on these funds to survive.

The EU has several funds to safeguard and develop European cultural heritage, the most important of which is the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), with around 750 million euros a year between 2010 and 2017. 

Nevertheless, the ECA’s new report states that EU investments in cultural sites are not treated as a priority in ERDF financing, because this fund is still focused on social and economic factors. Moreover, if a cultural site is not likely to create economic and/or social effects, the ERDF will not finance it. These assessment parameters create distortions in support for the cultural sector in several Member States.

See the full question below: 

Cultural heritage is a defining aspect for Member States. In this context, the EU has the role of encouraging cooperation and of supporting or implementing their related actions. Nevertheless, the European Court of Auditors’ special report 08/2020 concludes that EU investments in cultural sites need more focus and coordination to serve their purpose.

The report highlights that the monitoring of the objectives in the Commission’s Agenda for Culture is insufficiently developed and that it is not taken into account in the main EU funds that provide financing to the sector. Furthermore, it indicates that the EU’s overall amount spent on investments in cultural sites is not specifically monitored (absence of indicators/milestones), which is worrying. 

The report also suggests that the EU should decrease Member States’ dependence on public subsidies by, for example, favouring the financing – under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) – of projects that contain plans to improve the financial self-sustainability of cultural sites. 

-Does the Commission intend to improve funding and the current strategic framework for culture by, for example, setting clear goals and indicators in the next Work Plan for Culture? 

-Does the Commission have any plans to strengthen the financial self-sustainability of national cultural sites funded by the ERDF?

See the Special Report No. 08/2020 of the ECA here:

https://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADocuments/SR20_08/SR_Cultural_investments_EN.pdf

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