Commission proposal on development and distribution of European audiovisual works (MEDIA II)
The European Commission has published its proposal for a Council Decision on a programme to promote the development and distribution of European audiovisual works (MEDIA II - Development and Distribution). The programme, which will run for five years from 1 January 1996 to 2000, is aimed at strengthening the European audiovisual industry, particularly in the areas of development and distribution. The aims of the programme are as follows: - As regards development: . To promote the development of production projects aimed at the European and world market and to support companies capable of developing such projects; . To develop production projects that make use of new creative techniques and to support companies capable of developing such projects; - As regards distribution: . To encourage European distributors to invest in cinema film production and to set up cross-border structures to distribute the films; . To encourage television companies to cooperate in investing in the projection of works aimed at the European and world market and to set up cross-border structures to transmit those works; . To support linguistic diversity of programmes; . To stimulate access to commercial events promoting European productions, in particular independent ones. An Annex to the proposal describes the measures necessary to achieve these objectives.