New financing opportunities for cooperative initiatives, European networks, and pan-European cultural institutions have now been released under the Culture Strand of the new Creative Europe program 2021-2027. 

Following the green light from the EU's co-legislators and the adoption of the 2021 annual work programme, the seven-year initiative, the only one solely dedicated to European cross-border cultural cooperation, was launched. 

The first is the Call for Projects of European Cooperation (deadline: 7 September). This appeal, which has a budget of over €60 million, will support projects integrating a wide range of stakeholders from the cultural and creative industries. The emphasis is on European artistic collaboration and innovation on subjects including audience engagement, social cohesion, digitization, contribution to the European Green Deal, and sector-specific challenges in the book, music, architecture, and culture heritage sectors. 

Depending on the size of their consortium, applicants can choose between small (minimum 3 entities from 3 different eligible countries), medium (minimum 5 entities from 5 different eligible countries), or large (minimum 10 entities from 10 different eligible countries) scale projects. 

Second, the Call for European Networks of Cultural and Creative Organizations aims to support around 30 cultural and creative networks, which is two more than the current period (deadline: 26 August). 

The Call for Pan-European Cultural Entities is the third step (deadline: 26 August 2021). This call, which has a budget of €5.4 million for the years 2021-2023, would support cultural institutions — in this case, orchestras with artists from at least 20 countries – with the goal of providing training, professionalization, and performance opportunities for young extremely talented artists. 

The calls can be found on the European Commission's Funding and Tenders Portal