The European Commission’s ambition to increase the budget, strengthen the media ecosystem, support pluralism, press freedom, and the fight against disinformation deserves recognition. However, the new MEDIA+ strand, planned from 2028 to 2034, raises serious concerns for the future of independent European audiovisual creation.
According to the European Producers Club, the proposed reform strays significantly from the founding spirit of the Creative Europe MEDIA programme, a European success story over the past three decades and a cornerstone in protecting cultural diversity and independent creation. The programme appears now downgraded into a “specific objective” of a much larger programme with an extended scope, that threatens its clarity and effectiveness.
KEY CONCERNS
- Weakened support for independent productions: the removal of the independence criterion is alarming. MEDIA has always been dedicated to supporting independent productions. Its absence in the AgoraEU proposal risks directing funding to subsidiaries of broadcasters and platforms, including non-European ones. This choice directly threatens the diversity of works and the competitiveness of small and medium-sized production companies.
- Unclear budget and shifting priorities: The budget for the support to the European audiovisual creation and circulation is not specified nor guaranteed and it is merged with the funding for News media. This creates uncertainty and undermines predictability for the sector. By mixing support for audiovisual creation with political objectives linked to news and the fight against disinformation, MEDIA+ blurs its mission, to the detriment of clarity and its impact on the audiovisual sector.
- Open doors to non-European entities: allowing third-country entities to benefit from funding undermines cultural sovereignty and exposes the sector to further market concentration in favour of global giants.
- Complex and opaque governance: the absence of mechanisms to consult Member States and stakeholders, and the centralization of decisions within the European Commission’s hands weakens the role of the European Parliament and the Council. The lack of detail on the different support schemes limits transparency and accountability of future programme implementation.
PROPOSALS FROM INDEPENDENT EUROPEAN PRODUCERS
- To ensure MEDIA+ meets its ambitions and promotes Europe’s cultural diversity, independent European producers urge EU co-legislators to:
- Reinstate the criteria of independence as a mandatory condition for support.
- Strictly separate funding for the audiovisual sector from funding for news and the fight against disinformation, ensuring clarity and dedicated budgets.
- Restrict access to funding for companies from non-associated, non-European countries.
- Reintroduce annexes specifying different support objectives, in order to provide the sector with predictability and sectoral stability.
For a Strong and Sovereign Europe of Culture Independent European producers call on the Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council to preserve the original spirit of MEDIA: a programme serving independence, cultural diversity, and European sovereignty. Together, we are committed to being constructive partners in finding solutions that strengthen and protect Europe’s cultural future.