The Forum

The Forum on EU-UK Cultural & Media Relations is an independent pan-European grassroots initiative, founded in September 2024 by Mafalda Dâmaso and Benjamin Feyen. We are based in London and Brussels.

Our aim is to improve the cultural and media relations between the European Union and the United Kingdom with a bottom-up approach. We believe that the Cultural and Creative Sectors (CCS) – in the UK often referred to as “creative industries” – are crucial to the political, societal and economic relations between the EU and the UK.

The Forum organises face-to-face fora uniting CCS organisations from the EU and the UK to provide a platform for the exchange of experience and best practices, and to co-create ambitious policy recommendations addressing common needs. The Forum advocates among official EU and UK stakeholders and steers common advocacy efforts.

The inaugural Forum meeting took place in October 2025 in advance of a meeting of the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly. Currently, the Forum is focused on getting the UK back into the EU’s Creative Europe programme.

The Co-Chairs

  • Co-founder and Co-chair Mafalda Dâmaso

    MAFALDA DÂMASO

    Co-founder and co-chair

    Website

  • About us


    Prof Mafalda Dâmaso (London) and Benjamin Feyen (Brussels) both have been professionally involved with the European (i.e. both EU's and UK's) Cultural and Creative Sectors (CCS) for over a decade in various roles in academia and policymaking.

    In September 2024, they teamed up to establish the Forum on EU-UK Cultural & Media Relations and began preparatory work for its take-off.

  • Co-founder and co-chair Benjamin Feyen

    BENJAMIN FEYEN

    Co-founder and co-chair

    Website