Programmes for internal democracy support Erasmus+ AgoraEU Learning Opportunities for all Capacity building support Creative Europe Culture MEDIA+ Democracy, Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Figure Justice Programme Efficient, inclusive and resilient European area of justice Concretely, AgoraEU represents approximately €8.6 billion, with€1.8 billion allocated to Crea ­tive Europe-Culture,€3.2 billion to Media+ and the remaining€3.6 billion to support for democ ­racy. This last budget line, for»Democracy, Citi­zens, Equality, Rights and Values«, is divided into three subsections: Rights, Equality, Citizen and Civil Society; Daphne, which is dedicated funding to tackle all forms of violence; and Democratic Participation and the Rule of Law, which includes support for elections and demo­cratic processes, as well as»promoting a better understanding of the Union«. This new proposal represents an increase for most budget lines: from€1.5 billion for CERV in the 2021–2027 MFF to€3.6 billion in the Ago ­raEU programme; from€2.4 in Creative Europe for media to€3.2 billion in Media+; and from €305 million to€798 million for the justice strand. 11 Erasmus+, Justice and AgoraEU make up about 3 per cent of the total projected EU budget, if the three funding programmes receive the maximum proposed funding. The nominal increase in funding for these budget items is a positive development, as the threats to democracy have been sharply increas­ing in recent years. 12 Streamlining the different funding strands into bigger money pots also makes sense when it comes to simplifying the EU budget. However, the streamlining of funding for democracy support, culture and media under one heading(AgoraEU) could also entail an in­creased risk of cuts during the negotiation pro­cess, especially for the authoritarian-leaning member states that regard this as the EU med­dling in their national competences. 6. A changed procedure for political foundations Under the previous MFF(2021–2027), European political foundations(EPFs) were funded from the European Parliament’s budget, under the broader MFF Heading 2»Cohesion and Values«. European political foundations were funded through operating grants given by the European 11  In the 2021–2027 MFF, CERV had a total budget of€1.56 billion, which accounts for 0.2 per cent of the current EU budget. 12  These numbers are nominal, not adjusted for inflation. It is likely that the real increase is much less consequential than the nominal one. The EU’s new programme for democracy support: AgoraEU 7