UK’s House of Lords calls for continued support for future MEDIA Programme

In their report on the European Union’s financial framework from 2014, the Lords’ European Union Committee – whose members include the Earl of Sandwich, Baroness Young of Hornsey and Lord Carter of Coles – called for “continued provision” for the European Commission’s Culture and MEDIA programmes in the EU’s financial framework from 2014.

“The Culture programme adds value by promoting trans-national cultural awareness and co-operation among artists, MEDIA by helping European cinema to flourish,” the Lords’ committee declared, noting that, “in negotiating a new MFF [Multiannual Financial Framework] on the basis of the Commission’s proposal, Member States should come to an agreement on what they wish to fund at an EU level, taking into account the principles of added value and subsidiarity; prioritise these activities; and then determine whether they are affordable and how they might be funded. In short, an MFF should be negotiated and prepared in the same way as a business plan.”

In response to the Lords’ deliberations, European Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou, who is responsible for the implementation of the Culture and MEDIA programmes, said that the document was “a comprehensive and timely report which analyses the EU’s objectives and the resources it needs to meet those objectives. I’m pleased that UK parliamentarians share our assessment of the added value of EU funding in the areas of education, training, culture, cinema and sport.”

Meanwhile, Vassiliou was on her first official visit to Brazil this week to launch the EU-Brazil policy dialogues on higher education and culture to feed into the next EU-Brazil summit to be held in Brussels this autumn.

She had meetings with the Brazilian Minister of Culture Ana de Hollanda, Alberto Flaksman, director of international affairs at the National Cinema Agency Ancine, and Rio Film Festival director Ilda Santiago, among others.

Ahead of her visit, Vassiliou indicated that Ancine might benefit in future from the Commission’s MEDIA Mundus programme which encourages international cooperation within the film industry.

Under the predecessor MEDIA International, a number of Brazilian cinemas had benefited from the Europa Cinemas International project for supporting cinema programming based on the circulation and exchange of works between non-EU member states and EU countries.

However, Brazil is not directly involved as a partner country in any of the current MEDIA Mundus-funded projects which were announced during the Berlinale in February.

But a Brazilian producer Renata Moura of Sancho Filmes is currently participating with a new feature project Rosa F.C. at the Puentes Co-Production Workshop which is being organized by the producers training programme EAVE with support from MEDIA Mundus as part of BAFICI’s Buenos Aires Lab.