On 17 February, the European Film Market (EFM, 12-18 February) hosted a high-level panel in the framework of the European Parliament’s presence at the Berlinale (12-22 February). The event, titled “Balancing Cultural Diversity, Artistic Freedom and Competitiveness in the Platform Era”, tackled what several speakers framed as a turning-point moment for Europe’s audiovisual ecosystem. Moderated by Michael Gubbins, of Rethink Creative, the discussion revolved around how Europe can remain competitive in a platform-dominated market without sacrificing cultural diversity, artistic freedom and democratic oversight, as global streaming companies and social platforms increasingly shape what gets produced, promoted and watched.

First, European Parliament First Vice-President Sabine Verheyen set the tone by arguing that the concentration of power in a handful of mostly US-based platforms is not only an economic challenge, but also a democratic one. “If a handful of players decide which stories are visible, whose voices are amplified and which languages are profitable,” she warned, “cultural diversity is no longer guaranteed, and Europe’s creative sovereignty is weakened.” While welcoming the European Commission’s ambition to invest more in culture and media, she cautioned against rhetoric that overstates budget increases once inflation and programme mergers are taken into account, insisting on “clarity”, “proper earmarking” and “strong parliamentary oversight”.

Next, Hungarian MEP Zoltán Tarr struck a similar note, describing an accelerated shift from cinema as “culturally autonomous” expression to “standardised products” optimised for scale, distribution and market dominance. In his view, Europe’s diversity is not a handicap but its “competitive advantage”. “Our languages, our histories, our regional voices and our layered identities offer an inexhaustible source of stories that no algorithm can manufacture.” Tarr also insisted that artificial intelligence should not be treated as an automatic threat: “AI is not our enemy; it is a tool,” he said, arguing it can expand creative possibilities if Europe defines how it is used.

Polish producer-director and European Producers Club head Dariusz Jabłoński pushed the debate into more concrete policy territory, describing the past three decades of European audiovisual support as a “story of success” that created an ecosystem in which those who profit from the market are expected to reinvest in culture. The core problem, he argued, is that global platforms are entering that ecosystem like “sharks” in an aquarium, benefitting from the market while undermining the rules that allow smaller players to flourish. For Jabłoński, the response must be twofold: Europe should develop credible alternatives at scale – he invoked Airbus as a precedent for a European industrial answer to US dominance – and it should strengthen reinvestment obligations while tying them to intellectual-property ownership. Otherwise, he warned, European creators risk producing acclaimed work only to see rights “taken away from Europe” and visibility controlled by platform gatekeepers.

Meanwhile, producer and European Film Academy chair Ada Solomon stressed that Europe’s “superpower” lies in its ability to be different, rather than “copy-pasting solutions”. Pointing to initiatives centred on audience development and film culture, she cited the European Film Academy’s Season of Classic Films, which she said sold “one million tickets for European films in just two months” across the continent. Solomon argued that what cinema and curated programming uniquely provide is real, face-to-face debate — something “nothing will replace” — and she questioned policy frameworks that, in her view, underweight creativity and content innovation in funding assessments.

From the exhibition sector, UNIC rep Sonia Ragone insisted that cinemas must be treated as both a cultural and an economic pillar. She said they are “a social hub for their local communities” and “a democratic tool” that fosters dialogue across generations and backgrounds, while also contributing to GDP and employment – citing more than 80,000 jobs across major European markets. Ragone added that the post-pandemic narrative about young audiences abandoning cinemas has proven too simplistic: younger viewers returned first and, crucially, “return more frequently”, often attending in groups. She argued for sustained investment in film literacy and for a new modernisation push, with equipment upgrades and energy-efficient technologies (including laser projection) now becoming urgent, comparable to the digitisation wave of the early 2000s.

Olivier Henrard, deputy general manager of France’s CNC, repeatedly framed the discussion around “ecosystem” and “sovereignty”. Cultural sovereignty, he argued, can no longer be treated as a sectorial issue, but as a component of European sovereignty overall. He rejected the idea that culture should be subordinated to defence, suggesting the opposite logic: “It’s precisely because sovereignty is at stake that we must consider culture at the heart of European policy.” Henrard also urged policymakers to avoid false choices between selective funding and automatic mechanisms: a sustainable system, he suggested, needs both competitive incentives (including tax tools) and ambitious cultural policy aimed at supporting quality and diversity.

A recurring theme was enforcement and transparency. Verheyen argued that Europe already has significant legislation in place, but must become far tougher in implementation – especially regarding algorithmic accountability. “Nobody knows the criteria” behind recommendation systems, she said, calling transparency essential and questioning why small businesses are shut down for compliance failures while platforms face penalties that can be treated as a mere cost of doing business. The upcoming review of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), several speakers suggested, will be a key battleground in creating a genuine “level playing field” between different kinds of services, including video-sharing platforms whose feeds function, in practice, like linear channels.

Throughout, the panel returned to the LUX Audience Award as a symbolic and practical counterweight to algorithm-driven visibility, presenting it as a citizen-facing mechanism that reinforces European cinema’s cultural role. As Gubbins concluded, the message from the stage was not simply that Europe must “balance” competing priorities, but that it must move decisively – investing across the entire value chain, defending independence and rights, and ensuring that the platform era does not redefine European film as simply “content”, rather than culture.

The event was rounded off by a short Q&A session.