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Last week European Commissioners Neelie Kroes (Competition), and Viviane Reding (Information Society and Media) announced that the current regime for state aid for film support schemes, as laid down in the 2001 Cinema Communication (extended in 2004 and 2007) would be extended another time until the end of 2009. This decision is a direct result of the Commission’s assessment the final report of the study on the economic and cultural impact of territorial conditions in film support schemes, which in “does not seem to be conclusive about the economic or cultural impact of territorial conditions in film support schemes and underlines the need for further reflection”.



However, the Commission underlines that the three year extension of the current regime will allow further reflection on new trends facing the sector which are not covered by the current Cinema Communication, including support for inter alia digital technology and film distribution, as well as competition among some Member States to attract inward investment from large-scale, mainly US, film production companies. Solutions to be found between now and 2009 will take account of the results of the study on territorialisation.



For more information go to http://ec.europa.eu/avpolicy/reg/cinema/index_en.htm