On Wednesday 26 November, the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe approved the text of the new Convention on the co-production of audiovisual works in the form of series.
The decision was announced a few days earlier at Eurovisioni by Enrico Vannucci, Deputy Executive Director of Eurimages, during round table number 4 on the future of European audiovisual funding instruments.
This marks another step towards modernising the tools available to the European audiovisual and multimedia industry, enabling it to meet the growing challenges of the international scene.
This decision by the Council of Europe precedes the one that the European Union will soon have to take with the approval of the Agora Plan (2027-2033), which will represent the evolution of the current Media and Creative Europe plans.
Also at Eurovisioni, Roberto Viola, Director-General of the European Commission’s CNECT Directorate, spoke about these issues in the following terms:
“As part of the Union’s new financial programmes, we have proposed the new Agora EU programme. With Agora EU, the Union is taking a decisive step forward. Agora EU brings together all European initiatives in the fields of culture, media, rights and values. Agora strengthens our ability to address emerging geopolitical and socio-economic challenges. This programme will ensure sustainable support for key priorities. It is organised into three dedicated and autonomous strands: Creative Europe, Media Plus, and the new Citizens and Rights programme. Agora EU paves the way for new synergies, in particular to strengthen democratic participation, consolidate resilience and promote the effective and ethical use of artificial intelligence.
For the audiovisual and media sector, the new Media Plus has a proposed budget of more than €3 billion. This will be devoted to promoting cultural diversity and the competitiveness of the audiovisual industries. And for the first time, it will provide support to the information sector by protecting the freedom and resilience of the media. It will contribute to the fight against disinformation and foreign interference.