30/03/2006

Long announced and often postponed, Switzerland’s entry into the EU’s audiovisual programme will finally be effective as of April 1. Thus, the country rejoins MEDIA, with a financial contribution of €4.2m, having left the programme in 1992, the day after the Swiss voted against the European Economic Area (EEA).

This move comes just in time, as domestic production has paid the price of 14 years of isolation, despite compensatory measures negotiated by the Confederation. Not particularly attractive as co-production partners on the European scene, Swiss producers were forced to make a strategic move into documentaries (less costly than fiction) and low-budget features that had difficulty crossing national borders.

Today’s entry into MEDIA changes many things. Swiss professionals will benefit, above all, from development aid for slate funding, which favours international co-productions and should assure better continuity. They will also benefit from fast-track aid, even though Switzerland – the sole European country with three distinct linguistic regions (German, French and Italian) that subsequently exclude nation-wide releases – will require certain adjustments.

Anticipating the initial entry date of January 1, 2006, distributors and producers have already placed some demands on Brussels. Rachel Schmid, the director of MEDIA Desk Switzerland, has already confirmed the first financial support package, to be allocated to the international market of the Visions du Réel Festival.

(Translated from French)