Time running out for CEECs to benefit from EU cultural programmes

Date: 18/12/1997

By Leyla Linton

CENTRAL and eastern European countries hoping to benefit from cultural funding will lose out unless they act swiftly before the programmes expire, warn senior European Commission officials.

Although all the applicant countries have told the Commission that they are keen to take part, only six - the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Estonia and Bulgaria - have convinced the Commission that they can make the financial commitment necessary to do so.

Until recently, central and eastern countries wishing to take part in EU cultural programmes did not have to 'match' money from Union coffers with an equivalent sum from their own pockets.

From now on, however, they will be treated in the same way as the EU's 15 existing member states and will only get out of the cultural budget as much as they put in.

Officials in the Commission's Directorate-General for culture and audio-visual policy (DGX) stress that time is running out for the applicant countries concerned to come forward with their budget plans and meet the deadlines for responding to calls for proposals for EU-funded cultural projects, as the Union's cultural programmes are coming to an end.

Ariane, which funds literary and translation projects, and Kaleidoscope, which aids cross-border cooperation, are both due to expire at the end of next year, and Raphael, which supports heritage projects, is due to finish at the end of 1999.

Officials say that if applicant countries are ready to apply by March next year, they will still have a chance to participate in cultural projects. But a senior official warned: "They need to be quick."