Brussels, 15/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - Following the reassuring comments of European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Culture and Audiovisual Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou (see EUROPE 10330), it was the turn of chairwoman of the European Parliament (EP) education and culture committee Doris Pack (EPP, Germany) to speak about the MEDIA programme. The rumours of the demise of the programme were without foundation, she said last Thursday. Renewal of European culture and education programmes will be discussed this year but it has already been established that there is no way that MEDIA can be dispensed with, she said, indicating, however, that it will no longer be funded from the EU budget. Member states will have to provide resources. “The financial funding beyond 2013 depends largely on the extent to which national governments are willing to recognise the importance of cultural policy”, she stated.
A delegation of well-known film-makers, from Costa-Gavras to Wim Wenders, will meet José Manuel Barroso in Brussels on Thursday, to make the case once again for continued European Union support for the European cinema. “Most of the films made and distributed in Europe would not exist if it wasn't for this programme. European aid is essential, especially for the cinema in the smaller countries”, Costa-Gavras told AFP. (I.L./transl.rt)