23/05/2013 - The EU-US free trade agreement and the new draft Cinema Communication threaten regional funds

During its 8th General Assembly at the 66th Cannes Film Festival, Cineregio has focused its discussions and concerns over the two main issues that threaten European cinema, namely, the EU-US free trade agreement and the new draft Cinema Communication. Both, if agreed upon, would mean a serious loss of influence over future film policies at European, national and regional level

Including the audiovisual sector in the free trade agreement negotiations would undermine the impact of regional funds and of the territorialisation of culture. Indeed the interests of US-based globalised multinationals would be put before those of a culturally-diverse Europe.

As for the Commission’s new draft Cinema Communication released on 30^th April, its content marks a significant and worrying shift from the previous drafts. If the Commission does recognise the regional dimension of film culture and its explicit reference to regional culture, the actual communication draft threatens regional film funds. Hence, the territorialisation of our culture is put at stake.

The draft text makes it difficult for regional agencies to justify the use of taxpayer’s money to support cultural output, because it would take away the right to ensure that aid granted to production companies is used to develop and nurture the audiovisual sector in the region granting the aid.

Consequently, the Commission’s draft challenges the right of European regions to contribute to Europe’s cultural diversity. Without territorialisation/regionalisation support schemes for European audiovisual projects would be lost. Therefore, territorialisation is an essential to cultural output and must be preserved at all costs.