The network of managers of European cinema agencies (EFAD - European Film Agency Directors) has welcomed in a press release the European decision not to include audiovisual services in the negotiation mandate of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. 

For the EFAD, it was a “well-founded decision”, and the European Commission and EU member states must now "concentrate their efforts on the major challenges for the audiovisual sector that follow in the wake of digital development. Unlike the USA, the European audiovisual sector is very fragmented. On the one hand, this fragmentation has been a breeding-ground for high-quality audiovisual content because it expresses the cultural distinctiveness of Europe. On the other hand, its fragmentation has a profound impact on the market and financial conditions for the development, production and distribution of European content.”

The EFAD believes that: “If Europe wishes to develop its position in a fully digitized audiovisual market without sacrificing its cultural diversity, these conditions cannot be over-estimated. It is crucial that the Member States continuously have the means and incentives to adapt their audiovisual policies to digital challenges” and that “the starting point for the future development of the audiovisual sector in Europe is a regulated network of private-public partnerships at Member States level as well as at an EU-level.”

(El artículo continúa más abajo - Inf. publicitaria)

The directors of European cinema agencies also emphasize that: “Regarding state aid assessment criteria for the compatibility of national funding regimes with EU regulations (the cinema Communication which includes these criteria is currently being revised by the European Commission), unnecessary restrictions based on one-size-fits-all market conditions will not contribute to the development of a vibrant and digital European audiovisual sector with characteristics that position Europe as an interesting trading partner to the USA and the rest of the world. And this is what it is all about, since the two issues in the Trans-Atlantic Partnership and the revision of the cinema Communication are intimately linked.”