The Programme has been established to enhance the cultural area shared by Europeans, which is based on a common cultural heritage, through the development of cooperation activities among cultural operators from countries taking part in the Programme, with a view to encouraging the emergence of European citizenship.

The Programme is aimed at three specific objectives:
• promotion of the trans-national mobility of people working in the cultural sector;
• support for the trans-national circulation of cultural and artistic works and products;
• promotion of inter-cultural dialogue.

The Programme has a flexible, interdisciplinary approach and is focused on the needs expressed by cultural operators during the public consultations leading up to its design.

The activities supported within the Programme belong to three main typologies, which correspond to the strands of the Programme.

Strands of the Programme
• Strand 1: Support for cultural projects
• Strand 2: Support for organisations active at European level in the field of culture
• Strand 3: Support for analyses and for the collection and dissemination of information and for maximising the impact of projects in the field of cultural cooperation

Links with years devoted to specific themes at European level
The Programme also aims to build links with the activities related to years that are devoted to a specific theme at European level.
2008: Year of Intercultural Dialogue, which is one of the Programme's general objectives
2009: Year of Creativity and Innovation
2010: Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion
2011: Year of Volunteering

Budget
The Programme has a total budget of EUR 400 million17 for the 2007-2013 period. Total yearly appropriations may vary from around EUR 43 million to about EUR 58 million, depending on the year. On a proposal by the Commission the annual budget breakdown per strand is approved by the Programme Committee. Over the whole duration of the Programme, approximately 77% of the total budget is intended to be devoted to Strand 1, 10% to Strand 2 and around 5% to Strand 3. The remaining appropriations are allocated to cover the Programme's general, administrative and technical expenses.

The award of grants is conditional to the adoption of the annual budget from the budgetary authority for the various strands. The annual breakdown of funds will be published on the website of the Executive Agency as soon as adopted.

Countries taking part in the Programme
To be eligible, applicants must have their head office in one of the countries taking part in the Programme.
The countries taking part in the Programme are:
• the Member States of the European Union,
• the countries of the EEA (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway),
• the applicant countries for accession to the European Union (Croatia, Turkey, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), Serbia and Montenegro.

For further information, you can contact the official website of the Cultural Contact Point www.culture.gr or the webpage of the Programme http://ec.europa.eu/culture/our-programmes-and-actions/doc411_en.htm