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The European Union: a Guide for Audiovisual Professionals

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The European Union: a Guide for Audiovisual Professionals January 2011 v2 The European Union: a guide for audiovisual professionals 1 Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the material contained within, complete accuracy cannot be guaranteed. The contents are for general informational purposes only. Links and references to websites, organisations or people should not be taken as an endorsement by The European Union. We appreciate your feedback. Please email any comments to [email protected]. The source of most of the figures and much of the factual information in this guide is the European Commission. The help of KEA European Affairs in preparing this guide is gratefully acknowledged. 2 Foreword by Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou 06 How to use this guide 07 Organisational chart of the European Union 09 Part 1: How the European Union works 10 1. Introducing the European Union 10 1.1 The EU in the UK 10 1.2 The treaties of the EU 10 1.3 The Treaty of Lisbon 11 1.4 The EU’s objectives 12 1.5 EU membership 12 1.6 How the EU makes decisions 13 1.7 Decision-making and the Treaty of Lisbon 15 2. The European Commission 16 2.1 About the Commission 16 2.2 What the Commission does 18 3. The European Parliament 20 3.1 Composition of the Parliament 20 3.2 What the Parliament does 23 3.3 How the Parliament organises its work 24 4. The Council of the European Union (Council of Ministers) 25 4.1 Composition of the Council 25 4.2 What the Council does 26 4.3 The Presidency 26 4.4 How the Council organises its work 28 5. Other European institutions and bodies 29 5.1 Committee of the Regions 29 5.2 Court of Auditors 29 5.3 Court of Justice of the European Union 29 5.4 European Central Bank 30 5.5 European Council 30 5.6 European Data Protection Supervisor 31 5.7 European Economic and Social Committee 31 5.8 European Investment Bank 32 5.8.1 European Investment Fund 32 5.9 European Ombudsman 32 6. The budget of the European Union 33 3 6.1 Agreeing the budget 33 6.2 2010 expenditure 33 6.3 Raising the money 36 Part 2: The European Union and the audiovisual industry 37 7. EU audiovisual policy context 37 8. Political and regulatory framework 38 8.1 Audiovisual and media policies 38 8.1.1 Audiovisual Media Services Directive 38 8.1.2 Working Time Directive 38 8.1.3 Cinema and state aid 39 8.1.4 Film heritage 41 8.1.5 Public Service Broadcasting 41 8.2 Europe 2020 41 8.2.1 Digital Agenda for Europe 42 8.2.2 Copyright and Content Online 42 8.2.3 Europeana 43 8.2.4 Media literacy 44 8.2.5 Telecoms Reform 44 8.2.6 Video Games Communication 45 8.3 Culture 46 8.3.1 European Agenda for Culture 46 8.3.2 Creative industries 46 9. Funding opportunities 48 9.1 MEDIA 2007 48 9.1.1 Introducing MEDIA 48 9.1.2 Funding schemes overview 49 9.1.3 MEDIA in the UK 51 9.1.4 MEDIA Mundus 52 9.1.5 MEDIA post-2013 52 9.2 Seventh Framework Programme 53 9.3 Structural Funds 53 9.3.1 European Regional Development Fund 54 9.3.2 European Social Fund 55 9.4 Other funding opportunities 56 9.4.1 Culture Programme 56 9.4.2 Lifelong Learning Programme 58 10. Audiovisual Policy international dimension 59 4 10.1 Trade relations (including the World Trade Organisation) 59 10.2 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation 60 10.3 European Neighbourhood Policy 61 10.4 Relations with third countries 61 10.4.1 EUROMED Audiovisual 61 10.4.2 ACP Films 62 10.4.3 Mercosur Audiovisual 63 Part 3: The other Council 64 11. Introducing the Council of Europe 64 12. European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production 65 13. Council of Europe interventions 66 13.1 Recommendation on Film Policy 66 13.2 European Convention for the Protection of the Audiovisual Heritage and its Protocol on the Protection of Television Productions 66 14. European Audiovisual Observatory 67 14.1 Origins and role 67 14.2 Information services 68 15. Eurimages 70 Part 4: The UK Film Council in Europe 72 16. The UK Film Council 72 16.1 How does the UK Film Council contribute to the European agenda? 72 Glossary of acronyms 74 Glossary of terms 76 Appendices 80 I. Directory of contacts and biographies II. European film market statistical overview 2008 III. Examples of MEDIA funding: UK beneficiaries 2007-2009 5 Foreword by Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou 2010 has been an important year for putting culture and the creative industries on the European political agenda. The creative sector plays a central role in sparking innovation, strengthening skills and promoting intercultural dialogue. A vibrant creative sector not only creates economic growth and empowers people at regional and national level; it is also the best guardian of Europe's cultural diversity. European culture, and particularly cinema, plays an important role in shaping European identities, and is enjoyed and lauded worldwide. Recent Academy Award® winners for Best Foreign Film include the European titles The Counterfeiters (2007) and The Lives of Others (2006). European films have also claimed seven out of the past ten Palmes d’Or, with winners including The White Ribbon (2009). A Prophet won a host of awards, including the Best Film Award at the BFI London Film Festival and the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2009. The landscape of European cinema is changing rapidly, and although globalisation and digitisation offer new opportunities for audiovisual professionals, they also present challenges. As such, it is vital that our audiovisual professionals can evolve creatively, develop knowledge and skills, embrace new methods of production and distribution, and adopt new business models. For nearly 20 years, the EU’s flagship MEDIA Programme has worked to strengthen the competitiveness of the European audiovisual industry and increase the circulation of European films, thereby enhancing European cultural and linguistic diversity. Between 2007 and 2013, it will invest €755 million in Europe's audiovisual industry. The MEDIA Programme is well recognised, but is only one of a wealth of EU initiatives designed to support, strengthen and promote Europe’s audiovisual industry. I am therefore delighted that our British associates at MEDIA Desk UK and the UK Film Council have produced this guide which not only demystifies the European Union and its institutions, but which uniquely explores these in the context of their relevance to the audiovisual sector. This guide will prove invaluable to audiovisual professionals seeking information about Europe. 6 Androulla Vassiliou How to use this guide The aim of The European Union: a guide for audiovisual professionals is to provide an introduction to the European Union (EU), its composition, powers, activities and initiatives, as well as an overview of its policies for and interventions in the audiovisual sector. For ease of reference and navigation, this guide is divided into four parts. The contents list on page six is sufficiently detailed to enable the reader to dip in and out of the guide to suit their interests. It neither needs to be, nor is it intended to be read sequentially. Part 1: How the European Union works provides an overview of the EU’s history, objectives and organisation, and the powers and work of its three principal institutions: the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of the European Union. It also provides overviews of other significant European institutions and bodies, and a section on the EU budget. Part 2: The European Union and the audiovisual industry is designed to give audiovisual professionals an overview of the audiovisual policy and initiatives of the EU, and of the support available to the industry at EU level. Sections seven and eight concentrate on the political and regulatory framework, covering subjects from the Audiovisual Media Services Directive to state aid, and from media literacy to the Digital Agenda for Europe. Section nine presents the work of MEDIA, the EU’s support programme for the audiovisual sector, and explores other EU funding opportunities. Section ten considers the international dimension of EU audiovisual policy. Part 3: The Council of Europe offers an outline of the oldest Europe-wide organisation, the Council of Europe. Distinct from the EU, the Council of Europe has three initiatives of importance to the audiovisual sector: the European Convention on Cinematographic Co- production, the European Audiovisual Observatory and Eurimages – all of which are covered in these sections. Part 4: The UK Film Council in Europe outlines the UK Film Council’s objectives and explains the organisation’s contribution to the European agenda. 7 Finally, the appendices provide profiles and contact details for key EU officials, statistics for the European film market and examples of MEDIA funding in the UK from 2007 to 2009. The guide also features a glossary of terms, and many hyperlinks. Terms which are blue and bold have a glossary definition, and terms which are blue and underlined are hyperlinks. 8 Organisational chart of the European Union 9 Part 1: How the European Union works 1. Introducing the European Union The European Union (EU) is an economic and political partnership between 27 democratic European countries. The aim of the EU is to bring peace, prosperity and freedom to its 500 million1 citizens – in a fairer, safer world. In its 50 year history, the EU has developed a single market through a standardised system of laws in all Member States, aiming to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services and capital.
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