Petition calling for UK to rejoin Creative Europe extends deadline
The UK’s presence at events like Cartoon Forum has been affected by its exit from Creative Europe
The organisers of a Europe-wide petition calling on the UK government to formally declare the country’s interest in fully participating in the EU’s Creative Europe programme from 2027 have extended its deadline.
The petition was launched earlier this year by the Forum on EU-UK Cultural & Media Relations, an independent pan-European grassroots initiative founded in 2024 by Mafalda Dâmaso and Benjamin Feyen and based in London and Brussels.
The organisers are seeking 5,000 signatures and have so far attracted around 2,180, the majority of which have come from the UK, with just over 400 from elsewhere.
The petition calls on the UK government to formally declare the country’s interest in fully participating in the EU’s Creative Europe programme from 2027, with that declaration to be addressed to the European Commission by mid-2026.
“We urge the UK government to act in the interest of cultural and artistic exchanges, in recognition of the significant contribution of creativity to economic growth, and in support of stronger EU-UK relations,” the petition states.
The deadline for the petition to reach 5,000 signatures was recently extended to the end of August following prime minister Keir Starmer’s announcement on June 22 that he would resign.
“This extension will allow the petition to be presented once the new political leadership and ministerial responsibilities have been confirmed, creating the best possible conditions for constructive engagement on the future of EU-UK cultural relations and the UK’s return to the Creative Europe programme,” the Forum on EU-UK Cultural & Media Relations said.
After the UK public voted to leave the EU in 2016, the government, unlike other non-EU countries in the region such as Norway and Iceland, decided it would not participate in the EU fund, which invests in arts and cultural projects, from the beginning of 2021.
The Forum on EU-UK Cultural & Media Relations said this had “hurt” Europe’s cultural and creative sectors, societies and democracies on both sides of the Channel.
The UK government subsequently announced a partial replacement for the fund, the Global Screen Fund, but this does not provide eligibility to pitch as a lead producer at events such as Cartoon Forum, where the UK was previously one of the best-represented countries.
The UK still manages to have a presence at Cartoon Forum, albeit significantly reduced, via initiatives such as Animated UK Meets Europe.
In 2024, the UK officially rejoined the Horizon Europe research programme as an associated member, and earlier this year it was agreed that it will join Erasmus+. The petition organisers are hoping the same could happen with Creative Europe.
Citing sources within the European Commission, the organisers said it is technically possible for the UK to join the Creative Europe programme from 2027, provided the UK government formally declares its interest to the European Commission, ideally by mid-2026.
The Creative Europe programme has a current budget of €2.44bn (US$2.79bn) for the 2021-27 funding cycle and supports thousands of cultural projects around the EU and participating countries.
Currently, 41 countries participate in Creative Europe, including Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Ukraine and Tunisia.
AgoraEU is the European Commission’s proposed funding programme for 2028-34, which would merge Creative Europe and the CERV (Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values) programme into one funding stream, with a proposed budget exceeding €8bn.
The initiative aims to support culture, the media sector and fundamental democratic values across the EU.
