Brussels, 07/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has delivered a strong response to the rumours of the MEDIA Programme being merged with other European programmes as part of efforts to cut costs. “On the contrary, the Commission is looking at strengthening the programme”, said Dennis Abbot spokesman for Education, Culture, Youth and Multilingualism Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou.
Having been directly questioned by European film makers (see EUROPE 10329 and 10322), European Commission President José Manuel Barroso reacted at the weekend during a visit to Turku, the 2011 European Capital of Culture. Stressing that the culture sector is of the greatest importance, for the European economy too, Barroso said of MEDIA: “There are some reports saying that the European Commission had the intention to reduce it, which is completely inaccurate. On the contrary, if one thinks about something concerning this programme, it is to reinforce it. At least that is what we are going to propose”. The MEDIA Programme has made a huge contribution to European cinema for more than 20 years. Through it, many exchanges and translations have been organised, making distribution of European films in other parts of Europe and the world possible, he went on. “These are concrete examples of where the European Union can help what has been done at national or even regional or local level”, he argued.
Repeating her “commitment to maintain a strong MEDIA Programme”, Commissioner Vassiliou acknowledged that the Commission is currently studying whether to put the MEDIA Programme together with other programmes under a common “roof”, “in order to create more synergy in all our actions in the field of culture and creativity”. She claimed that this would not result in any dilution of the objectives pursued, as “the individual programmes themselves will totally preserve their specificities”. On the contrary, she said, the move would cut down on red-tape, so that more funding could be directed where it was most needed. This would make it just like ERASMUS, the university component of a lifelong learning programme, which is continuing to flourish. “If we decide to bring MEDIA into a broader cultural framework, I'm sure it will also go from strength to strength in the same way”, Vassiliou said. In an interview with French daily Libération, she said she was “especially mindful” to maintain at least the current level of funding for the MEDIA Programme, while trying to extend it and make it more efficient. “I will also seek to begin open and constructive dialogue with all interested parties to make best use of administrative spending and rationalise the operational process so that more of the money allocated can go directly to supporting European cinema”, the commissioner said. (I.L./transl.rt)