On the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2026 – all sections

The Committee on Culture and Education calls on the Committee on Budgets, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following into its motion for a resolution:

1.Strongly opposes the Council’s substantial cuts in Erasmus+ and Creative Europe in its reading of the 2026 draft budget, amounting to EUR 257.73 million and EUR 26.4 million respectively; underlines that reducing support for those flagship programmes of the Union at the end of the current multiannual financial framework, when all programmes are at cruising speed, is short-sighted and reflects a lack of vison on the Council side; emphasises that the funding for those successful programmes, which consistently contribute to the priorities of long-term competitiveness, employability and resilience, directly benefits citizens, including learners and young people, and that the proposed cuts translate directly into fewer opportunities for them;

2.Points out that according to the financial programming, Erasmus+ will benefit from an additional amount of EUR 255 million in recoveries in 2026 and that the cuts the Council proposes to the draft budget amount to EUR 257 million; deplores the fact that that represents a de facto reduction of the overall financial envelope allocated to the programme over the 2021–2027 period, despite its extremely high absorption capacity and popularity; urges in particular to ensure stability to initiatives such as the European Universities alliances and the Erasmus+ Teacher Academies and safeguard upcoming initiatives such as European Schools Alliances as well as support the implementation of the European Education Area;

3.Warns that the Council’s proposed cuts to the first strand of Erasmus+ would lead to a decrease as compared to 2025 and translate into fewer opportunities for learning mobility; points out that Erasmus+ learning mobility has consistently grown throughout the programming period and suffers from oversubscription, demonstrating its success and need for further support, for example to meet the doubling in the number of applications for Erasmus+ school accreditations; therefore, proposes to increase appropriations by EUR 42 million for that strand of the programme, and EUR 15 million for the relevant strands related to youth and sports;

4.Stresses that a EUR 3 million cut in the sports sector would have a significant impact, given its already limited funding; highlights that that support is essential to reinforce the growing role of Erasmus+ in promoting physical activity, health, and local engagement;

5.Underlines that the European Solidarity Corps programme should be reinforced to allow more young people to engage in volunteering and solidarity activities, and to foster its role in responding to crises, including the war in Ukraine; is convinced that a moderate increase of EUR 3 million, which represents 4,17 % increase as compared to 2025, is justified, considering the persistent oversubscription of the programme and the impact of inflation;

6.Recalls that Creative Europe is the Union’s only programme dedicated to the cultural, creative and audiovisual sectors, as well as news media, and proposes an appropriate increase above draft budget of EUR 20 million; points out that Creative Europe delivers strong results and full budget implementation, and is oversubscribed across all strands; underlines its key contribution to economic recovery, social cohesion, European identity, media literacy and pluralism, societal resilience, and to the fight against disinformation;

7.Stresses that the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme protects and promotes Union values, citizens' engagement and participation in the democratic life of the Union and raises awareness of the common European history;

8.Recognises the role of pilot projects and preparatory actions as important tools used by Members of the European Parliament to test and develop new policies and initiatives; supports therefore all pilot projects and preparatory actions within the remit of Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education that received grades A and B in the pre-assessment procedure.