WRITTEN QUESTION E-1565/00 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Council. Government aid for audiovisual productions.
Date: 2000-05-24
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing, audiovisual production

6.3.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 72 E/77

guaranteed. The right to express one(cid:146)s faith freely and publicly, individually or with others is guaranteed
[(cid:133).](cid:146). The decisions of the Constitutional Court are final and executive.

The Commission does not deem relevant, therefore, to start discussion with the Government of the former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on a ruling of its Constitutional Court.

(2001/C 72 E/091)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1565/00

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(24 May 2000)

Subject: Government aid for audiovisual productions

The Commission wants to confine government aid for audiovisual productions to half the total budget.
This proposal is the first occasion that the Commission has applied the competition rules in full in the area
of cultural policy.

This action will have a pernicious effect on audiovisual initiatives in small and medium-sized Member
States and cultural areas. They have more limited sources of finance than the large Member States and
cultural areas. Moreover, a relative yardstick (in this case the 50 % rule), as used by the Commission, gives
a distorted picture of the amounts actually invested.

Does the Council agree with the Commission(cid:146)s proposal to limit government aid for audiovisual

1.
productions to half the total budget? If so, why?

Does the Council acknowledge that this proposal is the first occasion that the Commission has
in the area of cultural policy? If no, how then should limiting

2.
applied the competition rules in full
government aid for audiovisual productions to half the total budget be interpreted?

3.
In the Councils opinion, can limiting government aid for audiovisual productions to half the total
budget be reconciled with the Commission(cid:146)s objective of supporting the development of small and
medium-sized Member States and cultural areas? If so, in what way does the Council think that limiting
government aid for audiovisual productions to half the total budget will contribute to developing small
and medium-sized Member states and cultural areas?

the Council oppose the Commission(cid:146)s proposal

4. Will
to limit government aid for audiovisual
productions to half the total budget in view of the detrimental effect this will have on audiovisual
initiatives in small and medium-sized Member states and cultural areas? If not, why not, and what are the
Council(cid:146)s reasons for supporting the Commission(cid:146)s proposal?

Reply

(26 September 2000)

The Council has not received any proposal from the Commission concerning the matter raised by the
Honourable Parliamentarian. As the Honourable Parliamentarian certainly is aware, in accordance with the
Treaty, the Council does not act in this matter unless it receives a proposal from the Commission
(Article 89 ECT). The Council also may, on application by a Member State, decide that a specific aid
granted by that State shall be considered to be compatible with the common market if such a decision is
justified by exceptional circumstances (article 88, paragraph 2, 3d subparagraph ECT). No such application
has been received by the Council concerning the