WRITTEN QUESTION P-3608/00

by Georg Jarzembowski (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(15 November 2000)

Subject: MEDIA II grants for cinemas

A Hamburg cinema, which meets the requirements for a grant under the MEDIA II programme that expires this year, has tried in vain to obtain financial support in accordance with the programme criteria. It failed because it is not a member of a European cinema network. It was unable to join a network because there is an unlimited moratorium on further members.

Can the Commission answer the following:

1. The MEDIA II programme only supports cinema operators who are members of a cinema network. What conditions must an applicant fulfil in order to participate in a network?

2. How does the Commission ensure that cinema operators who deserve support obtain access to the networks without being subject to discrimination?

3. If the Commission cannot safeguard such access, does it give preference when selecting networks to those which provide access and allocate funds free from discrimination?

4. How can the Commission ensure that an applicant deserving of support obtains a grant if the applicant is unable to join a network?

5. In the new MEDIA Plus programme, will cinema operators who have not received a grant so far get a chance, from 2001 onward, to apply for support? Is it only possible to apply via networks or is direct support also possible?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(9 January 2001)

In order to encourage the screening of European films in cinemas in Europe and to promote the exchange of information and cooperation between cinemas showing these films, the Commission provides funding under the MEDIA II programme for cinema networks showing a significant percentage of European films, in particular non-national films.

Every year the Commission publishes a call for proposals for these networks, and the guidelines of these calls are established in agreement with the MEDIA programme's management committee. Every year the Commission also submits to the MEDIA Committee a list of the networks it proposes to select.

1. With the dual objective of funding cinemas which screen a significant percentage of European films and encouraging the creation of networks, the Commission funds cinema networks which meet the criteria set out in the call for proposals, on the basis of these networks' guidelines. Every year the cinema networks which receive funding select new cinemas which can join the network, in accordance with the financial contribution allocated by the Commission in conjunction with the MEDIA Committee. Similarly, every year they exclude member cinemas which do not fulfil, or no longer fulfil, the obligations set out in their guidelines, thus allowing new cinemas to join the network.

2. As part of the annual calls for proposals issued by the Commission, the cinema networks submit the list of cinemas which are members of the network, together with the list of cinemas they propose to exclude from the network and the list of new cinemas to be included in the network. The criteria for joining the networks have to be objective, and the Commission checks their objectivity and their application. However, the addition of new cinemas to networks in receipt of funding depends particularly on the budget available to the Commission for the funding of cinemas: as in all calls for proposals, the limited overall budget available to the Commission requires the granting of aid to be selective and therefore the number of new applications accepted by funded networks is restricted. Between 1996 and 2000, the funding awarded to cinema networks increased from 3 500 000 to 4 900 000, and the number of cinemas receiving funding via the networks rose from 189 in 1996 (a total of 466 screens) to 424 in 2000 (a total of 1 041 screens). Inclusion in the networks also depends on the priorities defined by the Commission and the MEDIA Committee in the guidelines of the call for proposals. In view of this, and in order to comply with the provisions of the Council Decision establishing the MEDIA II programme, according to which the Commission will ensure that the professionals participating in the programme reflect a balanced representation of Europe's cultural diversity, priority in selecting new member cinemas must be given to towns and regions not yet covered by the network. Therefore, given that three cinemas (eight screens) in Hamburg already receive funding from the existing networks, priority was given to German applications from new cities or from cities still under-represented in the networks (such as Leipzig, Ludwigsburg or Essen).

On this point, the Commission would like to draw the Honourable Member's attention to the fact that there is no unlimited moratorium on further members. Following a period in which the funded networks expanded significantly, the Commission decided that for the year 2000, given the programme's limited budget resources, it would suspend the expansion of the relevant networks (except for the addition of new cinemas to replace those excluded from the networks for not fulfilling their obligations).

3. In the light of the conditions set out in the previous paragraph, the Commission gives preference, when selecting networks for funding, to those which ensure fair access for new cinemas by assessing new applications objectively.

4. Given the budget limitations, the Commission cannot guarantee that all applicants which fulfil the minimum criteria set out in the guidelines will receive funding. The Commission ensures that the selection procedure put in place by the cinema networks which receive funding is transparent and objective, and that it is implemented in accordance with the approved guidelines for these networks.

5. Funding for cinemas which screen European films is included in the actions planned for the MEDIA Plus programme, as is funding for cinema networks. The methods for this action (direct funding or funding via networks) will be defined in conjunction with the MEDIA Plus Programme Committee, which is required to give its opinion on the matter as a management committee.