Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-10-24-Speech-2-066"
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"en.20061024.6.2-066"2
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"Mr President, today finds us debating MEDIA 2007, the third generation support programme for the European film industry.
I want to extend the warmest thanks to the members of the Committee on Culture and Education and to the advisory committees for their excellent cooperation, and particularly too to Commissioner Reding and her staff, who, together with this House, have tried to do everything they could to help the European audio-visual industry develop further and be a success.
It was exactly a year ago today, on 25 October 2005, that we in this House adopted this draft programme by a broad majority. We had wanted to adopt the programme in good time – and by that I mean early – so that it could be available to Europe’s film-makers with effect from 1 January 2007, but the European Council was not, alas, far-sighted enough to stick to this timetable, and required us, in the first instance, to go through some difficult financial negotiations.
The MEDIA 2007 programme is structured in the same way as its successful predecessors, MEDIA and MEDIA PLUS, covering training, development and sales in the audiovisual sector, but not production, which is a matter for the Member States to deal with. What makes the MEDIA programme so extraordinarily important is the fact that the audio-visual sector is, as we are all aware, one of the fastest growing economic sectors not only in Europe, but throughout the world. If Europe wants to keep up, it has to get on the right track.
The MEDIA programme represents a response to two core problems with the European audio-visual market, the first of which is its fragmentation, which is attributable primarily to our cultural, linguistic and national diversity; while that is a treasure, and one of the most important treasures Europe possesses, it also presents great challenges in terms of market development. Secondly, the audio-visual market in Europe suffers from chronic under-capitalisation. The MEDIA programme does a good job of responding to those challenges.
The MEDIA programme helped fund 90% of all films produced for export within Europe, and every euro invested through it brings another twenty in follow-up investment, and so it was very definitely right that the Commission, and Commissioner Reding in particular, should push as they did for adequate funding for this on the part of the European Union, and proposed that this should amount to the sum of one billion euros. It is unfortunate that the Council could not, in the course of negotiations, be prevailed upon to accept this sum, which was reduced to EUR 671 million, so we have managed to maintain the status quo without achieving any further development.
The new programme does, nevertheless, incorporate three priorities. The first is digitisation, the second enhanced cooperation at every level, and the third improved access to financial institutions specialising in the funding of films. All I can say to all that is that we are speaking out strongly in favour of a quick start for the programme, of its successful implementation and of what we hope will be adequate funding next time round."@en1
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