September 30, 2017 | Saturday
September at the EU Information and Cultural Centers in Pristina and North Mitrovica was about Creative Europe. In order to shed light on this very important programme for the cultural and audio-visual sector in Europe, EUICCs in Pristina and North Mitrovica organized an information campaign, comprised of a number of events.
Creative Europe is the EU Commission’s programme aimed to support the culture and audiovisual sector in Europe. Kosovo’s eligibility process will be coordinated by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports. The process will be backed up by external expert support as well. The total budget of Creative Europe for 2014-2020 is 1.46 billion euros, and Kosovo will be eligible to apply as other countries.
In a panel discussion at EUICC in Pristina, Mr. Florim Canolli from the Ministry of European Integration declared that Kosovo will be eligible for Creative Europe funds as of beginning of 2018. “We have received the first draft agreement for Creative Europe, and we are going to continue with other procedures including the ratification of the agreement in the parliament, so Kosovo will be ready for the programme by January 2018,” said Mr. Canolli.
Director of Kosovo Cinematography Centre, Mr. Arben Zharku, said in the panel discussion that the audio-visual component of Creative Europe is very important for the film industry in Kosovo. “Even if we were not part of the programme yet, there were successful collaborations between Kosovo and European production companies” said Mr. Zharku, referring to successful international coproduction films “Shok” and “Home.”
“Creative Europe is one of the best European Union programmes, with incredible innovation’s and good ideas. It is an amazing programme especially for young and creative people,” said Mark Barret, Team Leader at Project Preparation Facility for the Ministry of European Integration, implemented by Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), who further gave valuable instructions for the application process.
Ms. Dominique Thiange (Belgium), former expert for Culture for All Programme – Phase III (2014 – 2016), in an Info Session at EUICC in Pristina, presented current calls of Creative Europe, gave advice and tips on application process, and provided an insight on the benefits that Creative Europe funds will bring to Kosovo’s cultural sector.
In an info session at the EUICC in North Mitrovica, a panel composed of representatives of the Ministry of European Integration, Mr. Florim Canolli and Mr. Flamur Salihu, shared information about Creative Europe, eligibility criteria, and gave an outline of other EU programmes available in Kosovo.
The EUICC activities in October will be focused on the topic of education.