Brussels, 01/03/2005 (Agence Europe) - Commissioner for Audiovisual and the Information Society Viviane Reding does not wish to play down the difficulties still faced by the European cinema sector over production, distribution and broadcasting support. She has therefore promised to use her new term of office at the Commission to refocus the objectives of the Media 2007 programme (in consultation with the Parliament and the Council). At the “Media” seminar organised by the Luxembourg Presidency on 28 February in Luxembourg, she said it was regrettable that despite some increases, coproductions remained too isolated, and she lamented the position of cinema and the lack of encouragement for audiovisual creativity in the new member states. She therefore promised “positive discrimination” via Media 2007 for the audiovisual sector in these countries. More generally, she felt that the European audiovisual sector “no longer occupies the position it should in the European and world markets”. Out of all the cinema releases from 2004, an average of 167 American films was shown in cinemas, as opposed to 87 domestic films and 31 European films from other member states. The differences between member states were great, with some countries distributing only very few domestic productions and others only distributing a very few of their neighbours' productions. American cinema's share of the market in member states thus varied from 60% to 82%. The European audiovisual sector was suffering from a significant lack of investment upstream of audiovisual production: “too many professionals do not have training that allows them to confront the challenges of the European and international markets, to prepare their companies and businesses so that they can find markets beyond their own country of origin. Too many audiovisual works are produced without sufficient investment in their development”. For the future, Viviane Reding's hopes lie in online cinema, “which will bring new opportunities for distribution and a new free space for creativity”.
In future years (2007-2013), the Media programme would have to continue to concentrate on the priorities of “adding value” to European cinema: support for training and development upstream; support for distribution and promotion downstream. Then, EU action should be developed around the following four axes: 1) reinforcing financial means (the Commissioner hopes that the Commission's proposal of making a billion EUR available to the programme will be taken up, despite “the very restrictive positions of many of the larger Member States”; 2) taking the technical and economic developments of the sector on board at every stage of the production and broadcasting of the works, because “digital is a key element for the competitiveness of the European audiovisual sector and an excellent opportunity for development”; 3) facilitating access to private funding for small and medium-sized businesses in Europe in the production and distribution sectors; 4) guaranteeing the diversity and market access of works from countries with low production capacities, an objective which is “more relevant than ever due to the enlargement of the European Union”.
The Commissioner announced the following actions for the near future: the launch of promotion activities in the field of “media literacy” and the development of synergies between “audiovisual” and “telecommunications” as part of the i2010 initiative, which is to take over where e-Europe left off.