Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

19.2.2010

In reply to the Honourable Member's question, the Commission would like to clarify the following points:

• —in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, the MEDIA Programme has been designed in complementarity with local, regional and national supports to the audiovisual sector. As regional and national schemes strongly support the production of short films, the MEDIA development scheme focuses on feature films and long TV programmes/series with a market potential and a European appeal which are produced by companies with a track record. The track record is usually defined by the production and distribution of at least one work of a similar length. In the case of animation the minimum duration was fixed at 24 minutes with the help of animation experts as it corresponds to the minimum duration of a so-called ‘animation special’. However the production and distribution (or festival screening) of two animated shorts is considered as a sufficient track record to be eligible for development funding, which shows that the specificities of the animation production sector have been taken into account. Series of shorts with a total duration of at least 24 minutes are also eligible for support;
• —moreover, the MEDIA Programme also acknowledges the cultural value and importance of short films by supporting a dozen of European shorts festivals as well as the market of the biggest shorts festival in Europe (which is in Clermont-Ferrand, France);
• —finally the MEDIA Programme has long contributed to the extraordinary development of the European animation industry over the last 10 years, in particular through trainings, co-production markets and promotional events organised by Cartoon, the European animation platform MEDIA has supported since its creation. Eight animation festivals (including AniFest) were also awarded MEDIA grants in 2009.