Text tabled : A7-0366/2011

  Emma McClarkin (ECR), in writing. − I abstained on this report because it does not address the real needs of either European cinemas or European filmmakers. We all want our local cinemas to survive and we all want films made in Europe to be successful, but you cannot create a European identity through films. Forcing cinemas to show a certain proportion of European films, regardless of whether anyone wants to watch them or not, is the quickest way to send even more of our cinemas out of business. Our cinemas cannot be immune from market forces nor can they be propped up by the types of subsidies proposed in this report. We live in a modern and fast moving digital age where cinemas must compete against a variety of new services. They still occupy a vital place in the market and play an important social role, but there is little in this report that will help them to survive or adapt. The ECR Group therefore tabled a number of separate votes on these points and voted against their inclusion in the report. However, as they remain in the report, I can not support it.