The European Commission has put forward the mid-term external evaluation on the implementation of the Culture Programme which analyses the results of the actions undertaken so far. The report, which makes an overview about the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of the application of the Programme, concludes that although some aspects could have been improved during the implementation, the overall results have been satisfactory.

In general terms, the Commission agrees with the external evaluation of the Interim evaluation report on the implementation of the Culture programme (COM(2010) 810 final), which concludes that the Culture Programme plays a unique role in stimulating cross-border cooperation, promoting peer learning and the professionalization of the sector and increasing the access of European citizens to non-national European works. Furthermore, the Programme indirectly contributes to the development of content which is essential for sustainable growth and jobs, and stimulates new, creative and innovative developments.

The report highlights that although the EU Cultural Programme pre-dates the new European Agenda for Culture, there are strong links between the two. Some forms of support are directly linked to those policy processes, whereas other forms are not directly linked but have the potential to generate good practice examples and lessons from experience that can inform policy processes.

Evidence from the project document review and the surveys indicates that the programme was generally successful in achieving its results and impact, given that more than 700 grants were awarded to cultural operators from the programme for the 2007-2009 period, reaching some 3.000 organisations in total if the co-organisers are included, and with total grant payments in excess of 120 million euro.

Besides, there has been high demand relative to the funding available: only around one in four applications to the cooperation project strands has been funded and only around one in three applications from organisations active at European level. In terms of the sustainability, many cooperation projects have generated follow-on activities, building solid foundations for future activity, fostering long-term benefits and forming partnerships that are strong enough to endure.

Successful Cultural events have been funded under Cultural Programme

The report highlights some of the European cultural events which have been organised under Cultural Programme scheme, such as the European Capitals of Culture which regularly attract millions of people and involve thousands of volunteers, like in Liverpool with 10 million visitors during 2008. The European Heritage Days 2009 attracted 25 million visitors across Europe and the European Boarder Breakers Awards reached hundreds of thousands of Europeans through broadcasts on 12 television stations, 24 radio stations in 24 different countries and the internet.

The report also puts forward a series of recommendations both related to the continued implementation of the current Culture programme until 2013 or the design of the new programme (post 2013). In this sense, the Commission has, since 2007, greatly intensified consultation with the cultural sector and is paying close attention to the views expressed by stakeholders within this process and which are echoed in this evaluation report.