Brussels, 25/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - On 24 March, the European Parliament's culture and education committee adopted two own initiative reports, one on follow-up to the Bologna process and the other on the European film industry in the digital age.
The report by Krystyna Lybacka (S&D, Polish), adopted by 24 votes to five, with no abstentions, looks at the progress of the Bologna Process, implementation of which sought to create a European higher education area in 2010. The report says that, while gains have been made in terms of the quality of educational systems, mobility and recognition of academic qualifications, more remains to be done properly to put the structures and instruments adopted into action and to correct a number of shortcomings. A more student-centred vision is also needed. Elsewhere, links have to be strengthened between higher education and research and these closer links must bring better alignment of Bologna Process action with that set out in the EU Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+ programmes, Lybacka says.
The report by Bogdan Brunon Wenta (EPP, Poland) provides an inventory of initiatives that could be adopted to support the European film industry in the digital age (promotion, cross-border distribution and greater visibility for works). It proposes European programmes and funding that could be used, while underlining that Europe must continue to support the video on demand (VOD) sector and online providers of legal content, which is key to tackling piracy. In order to limit costs and increase the popularity of European cinema, the report suggests a pilot project with a view to setting up an online platform where subtitle translations could be informed by the public. (Isabelle Lamberty)