President Barroso meets with Plácido Domingo
Today President Barroso met Plácido Domingo, the world-renowned tenor and President of “Europa Nostra” to discuss the “Creative Europe” Programme, a Commission's proposal adopted on 19 November by the European Parliament, and other wider cultural issues.
The President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso welcomed Plácido Domingo in Brussels. Plácido Domingo is the President of “Europa Nostra”, a citizens’ movement for the safeguarding of Europe’s cultural and natural heritage.
During the meeting, President Barroso underlined the attention the Commission devotes to culture and heritage in the European Union, notably through concrete support schemes such as the “Creative Europe” Programme and heritage actions.
Creative Europe builds on the experience and success of the Culture and MEDIA programmes, which have supported the cultural and audio-visual sectors for more than 20 years. It aims to respond to challenges the cultural and creative sectors face in terms of fragmentation, globalisation and the digital shift, data management and shortage of private investment.
Being a Commission's proposal, it was adopted on 19 November by the European Parliament. The budgetary amount for the programme for the 2014-2020 period has been set at €1.46 billion, an increase of 9% compared to current levels.
The "Creative Europe programme" has been adopted by the Council and will enter into force as from January 2014.
Cultural heritage in the EU and copyright issues, a matter of great importance for the Commission, were also on the agenda.