Brussels, 22/12/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has approved Germany's new film fund on the basis of EU state aid rules. The fund, which has a total budget of €180 million, provides direct grants to film producers to encourage the production of feature films, documentaries and animation films. Aid is only awarded for films with cultural content, determined on the basis of a cultural test. The Commission's assessment of the scheme was based on the criteria set out in its 2001 Communication on state aid for cinema and audiovisual material. The scheme has been approved until 31 December 2009. The Commission has approved this scheme based on the criteria to assess aid to assist film and television production laid down in its 2001 Communication. However, as this Communication is due to expire on 30 June 2007, the German authorities have undertaken to make any changes to the scheme that might be required by new EU rules coming into force after June 2007. In order to be eligible for support under the scheme, feature films, documentaries and animation films have to pass points-based eligibility tests, depending on the type of film. As with other EU funding schemes, the new German film fund contains territorial conditions, which require that a proportion of the film production expenditure is incurred in Germany. The territorial conditions of the new German film fund concern the eligibility requirement for support under the scheme as well as the calculation of the aid amount. (ab)