EUROPEAN COUNCIL APPROVE MEDIA PLUS BUDGET

THE COUNCIL of Ministers for Culture have approved the MEDIA Plus Programmes of support for the European audiovisual industry.
Last week in Brussels the Council of Ministers for Culture finally reached agreement on a budget of 400 m Euros (£240 m) for the MEDIA Plus Programme (2001-2005).
Viviane Reding, the Member of the European Commission responsible for
Education and Culture said: “This sends out a strong message to the audiovisual professionals that the fifteen Member States are fully behind the drive to increase the competitiveness of European cinema at a time when digital offers huge potential for growth and employment.”
Reding had insisted on the MEDIA Desks being allocated sufficient funding, as they play a key role informing and assisting audiovisual professionals who wish to participate in the Programme.
The Programme comprises a provision for the training of audiovisual industry professionals (in digital technologies, marketing and screenwriting) amounting to 50 m Euros (£30 m) over five years. The other facet of the Programme is for Development, Distribution and Promotion amounts to 350 m Euros (£210 m) over five years.
This is an increase from the total budget of MEDIA 2 (1996-2000), which was 310 m Euros (£187 m).
The Council unanimously agreed on MEDIA Plus Development, Distribution and Promotion and has adopted a common position for MEDIA Plus Training, and the decision will be adopted in the next Council meeting. At least 20 per cent of the spend will be on development, 58 per cent on distribution, eight per cent on promotion and nine percent on ‘horizontal’ costs. As a new addition to the MEDIA programme, which is largely to facilitate the changeover to digital, five per cent of the allocated budget is to be spent on pilot projects.
It is anticipated that the European Parliament will give its approval to MEDIA Training during its plenary session in December.
MEDIA has been hailed as a success as the proportion of European films distributed outside their country of origin has increased from 14 per cent in 1996 to over 22 per cent in 1999. Over 60 per cent of European films that are distributed outside their country of origin are supported by MEDIA.
Also announced by Reding was the successful conclusion of discussions with the European Investment Bank (EIB), with a view to putting measures in place for the audiovisual content industry such as loans, guarantees or support for venture capital funds.
(CMcL)