07/03/2011

There had been a rumour going around since the latest Berlinale according to which the President of the European Commission (EC) José Manuel Barroso had made a statement on the future of the MEDIA programme and on the possibility of putting an end to it in 2014.

A press release from the EC officially denies this information and clarifies President Barroso’s position on the field of culture.

The declaration says:

During his visit to Turku, European Capital of Culture 2011, President José Manuel Barroso said:

"The field of culture is a very important one, also for the European economy. Let me mention the MEDIA programme, related to European cinema. There were 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 this is what we are going to propose.

The MEDIA programme has been making a great contribution to European Cinema for 20 years now. €1.7 billion has been invested in European cinema. Thanks to that programme, many exchanges and translations were organised, which made the distribution of European movies possible in other parts of Europe and in other parts of the world. These are concrete examples of where the European Union can help what has been done at national or even regional or local level".

In recent weeks, several audiovisual organisations had sent an open letter to Barroso, demanding the maintenance of the MEDIA programme from 2014 onwards (see news).