Digital Services Act
Film/AV sector DSA Trilogue statement – UNIC
The undersigned organisations representing the creative and business communities of the film and audiovisual sector in Europe regret that the European Parliament plenary vote on the Digital Services Act failed to achieve the stated goal of making internet intermediaries more accountable and creating a safer, better-functioning online environment for everyone.
Digital Services Act: regulating platforms for a safer online space for users – European Parliament
MEPs agreed a draft set of measures to tackle illegal content, to ensure platforms are held accountable for their algorithms, and improve content moderation.
Christel Schaldemose tells the Parliament Magazine, in an exclusive interview, about her hopes for the EU’s groundbreaking Digital Services Act – The Parliament Magazine
European Parliament’s lead rapporteur says EU policymakers have an obligation to ‘take back control’ of the internet.
Competition
Antitrust: Commission publishes final report on consumer Internet of Things sector inquiry – European Commission
The European Commission has published today the findings of its competition sector inquiry into the consumer Internet of Things (IoT). The final report and its accompanying staff working document identify potential competition concerns in the rapidly growing markets for IoT related products and services in the European Union.
French Presidency of the Council
French Presidency briefs the European Parliament’s committees on its priorities – European Parliament
Ministers outlined the priorities of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU to parliamentary committees, in a series of meetings.
Events:
3 February - Second Trilogue Digital Markets Act
10-20 February - Berlinale
14 February - European Film Forum at Berlinale on sustainability in the cinema industry
28/29 March - UNIC Cinema Days 2022
25-28 April - CinemaCon 2022
20-23 June - CineEurope 2022
The following grants were announced by the Georgian National Film Center on 17 January 2022.
“Petty Thieves” wins the 2022 edition of When East Meets West
The North Macedonia Film Agency distributed 821,950 EUR / 50.5 m MKD for production grants for feature, short, and documentary films within the second grant call of 2021.
A successful year for filmmakers: more than 15 mln Euro collected by taking advantage of the Lithuanian Film Tax Incentive
Press releases 27-01-2022The Film Tax Incentive running in Lithuania for the 9th year has yet again broken the records of success – in 2021 the investment has grown significantly, the number of film projects taking advantage of it has increased, as well as the number of international film projects in Lithuania.
TRIESTE: The 33rd edition of the Trieste Film Festival, running in person this year on 21 – 30 January, has announced its prize winners. The jury of the festival dedicated to Central and Eastern European cinema gave the Trieste Award for the best feature film to Romanian Radu Muntean’s Întregalde, while the Alpe Adria Cinema Award for the best documentary went to the Croatian film Factory to the Workers by Srđan Kovačević.
The Trieste Award assigned by the jury (Edvinas Pukšta, Dubravka Lakić, Emanuela Martini) to the best feature film in competition (euro 5.000) goes to ÎNTREGALDE by Radu Muntean (Romania 2021) with the following motivation: the most unpredictable film in the International Feature Film Competition smartly changes gears bridging divergent genres and moods, convincingly blending professional actors with unforgettable local amateurs, and tensely driving us to a surprising destination of genuine tranquillity.
VALLETTA: The Malta Film Week has kicked off with its Vision for the Film Industry event, celebrating the growing Maltese film industry and presenting the Government's plans for the sector for the years to come.
Visegrad Film Forum Returns After Two Years to Welcome Award-Winning Professionals From All Over the World in 2022
Press releases 24-01-2022Visegrad Film Forum has announced the names of the first two guests. Renowned filmmakers Jim Stark and Eddy Joseph who have collaborated with world-class directors on dozens of notorious films such as Batman, Pink Floyd: The Wall, Casino Royale or Coffee and Cigarettes will visit Bratislava to share their expertise in informal lectures. After a two-year break, the Visegrad Film Forum will take place as an on-site event on 15-19 March 2022 at the Film and Television Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava and at the Lumière Cinema in Bratislava.
Digital Services Act
13/01: Digital Services Act: Time to end the Digital ‘Wild West’ says Arba Kokalari – The Parliament
EPP Group Shadow Rapporteur says MEPs must seize the opportunity of upcoming DSA plenary vote to create a more innovative, competitive and safer European digital market.
Creative Europe
13/01: Creative Europe: Increased budget in 2022 to support cultural and creative sectors – European Commission
The Commission has adopted the 2022 work programme of Creative Europe, which will be followed by the launch of the relevant calls for proposals. With a budget of around €385 million, nearly €100 million more compared to 2021, Creative Europe strengthens its support to creative and cultural partners taking due account of the challenges resulting from the COVID-19 crisis and the growing global competition.
Audiovisual Media Services Directive
10/01: Updated tracking table by the European Audiovisual Observatory - EAO
The Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) was last revised in autumn 2018. The European Commission set the deadline for transposition into national legislation as being the 19 September 2020. The following table shows the actual state of play in each EU Member State.
Intellectual Property Rights
10/01: €47 million fund to protect intellectual property of EU SMEs in their COVID-19 recovery and green and digital transitions – European Commission
The Commission and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) launched the new EU SME Fund, which offers vouchers for EU-based SMEs to help them protect their intellectual property (IP) rights.
French Presidency of the EU
07/01: Statement by President von der Leyen at the joint press conference with President Macron on the presentation of the programme of activities of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU - European Commission
01/01: Programme of the Presidency - UEFRANCE22
France has published its programme for the next six months. The programme details the priorities and guidelines for the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from 1 January to 30 June 2022.
European Parliament
03/01: Coming up in 2022: digital issues, green transition, health - European Parliament
Digital issues, public health and the road to climate neutrality are among the main topics on Parliament's agenda for 2022. Find out what to expect.
Recent studies
EUIPO - Online Copyright Infringement in the European Union: Music, Films and TV (2017-2020), Trends and Drivers - December 2021
EAO - Animation films and TV series in Europe - December 2021
Events
January/February: Fourth meeting of the European Commission Stakeholders dialogue on access to and availability of audiovisual content across the EU (final date tbc)
25 January: Presidency conference on audiovisual in Angers ““Independence in Support of Creativity” - Audiovisual and Cinema Conference” – more information here
26-27 January: JURI committee meeting
3-4 February: UNIC Cinema Days
14 February: European Commission Film Forum on sustainability and AV - more details to follow
