As the world has been hit by a heavy crisis in which a part of Europe finds itself in a state of war, the Festival de Cannes wishes to extend all its support to the people of Ukraine and all those who are in its territory.

COVID -19: Cultural and Creative Sectors

22/01:  A welcome budgetary increase for Creative Europe/Media, an essential programme for the recovery and sustainability of the European film and Audiovisual sector in COVID-19 times - UNIC

Our eco-system has been rightfully recognised as one of the hardest hit by the pandemic and health & safety precautionary measures implemented by national governments. It is therefore crucial that the MEDIA strand of the Creative Europe Programme has the means to support the film and audiovisual sector in getting back on its feet, for the sake of its authors, talents, companies, workers, audiences and European citizens alike.

27/01: COVID-19 crisis will have ‘massive and lasting’ impact on Europe’s culture sector, says report – The Parliament Magazine

The study on the state of the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) in Europe also says that the industry can be “one of the drivers to help boost and revamp” the EU economy.

28/01: UNIC calls for ongoing support for European cinemas to overcome the challenges of COVID - 19 - UNIC

The International Union of Cinemas (UNIC), the body representing European cinema trade associations and operators, has released preliminary 2020 box office estimates for the territories covered by the organisation.

COVID-19: EU response

28/01: State aid: Commission prolongs and further expands Temporary Framework to support economy in context of coronavirus outbreak – European Commission

The European Commission has decided to prolong until 31 December 2021 the State aid Temporary Framework adopted on 19 March 2020 to support the economy in the context of the coronavirus outbreak. The Commission has also decided to expand the scope of the Temporary Framework by increasing the ceilings set out in it and by allowing the conversion of certain repayable instruments into direct grants until the end of next year.

27/01: European Commission successfully places first EU SURE bond in 2021 - European Commission 

The European Commission has issued a €14 billion social bond under the EU SURE instrument to help protect jobs and people in work. The issuing consisted of two bonds, with €10 billion due for repayment in June 2028 and €4 billion due for repayment in November 2050.

25/01: Recovery and Resilience Facility: Commission updates guidance for recovery and resilience plans - European Commission 

Following the political agreement on the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) reached in December, the Commission has presented updated guidance to Member States on the preparation and presentation of recovery and resilience plans.

19/01: MEPs adopt Technical Support Instrument to speed up post-COVID-19 recovery – European Parliament

The Technical Support Instrument will help EU countries prepare the recovery plans needed to access funding from the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

Portuguese Presidency

28/01: Presentation of Portuguese priorities in CULT Committee – European Parliament

On 26 January 2021 during its morning remote meeting session the CULT Committee Members welcomed the Presentation of the priorities of the upcoming Portuguese Presidency.

Poland

1/02: Polish Film Institute to Spend 26.5 m EUR on COVID-19 Aid for Cinema Industry – Film New Europe

The Polish Film Institute will start accepting applications for their next batch of aid for producers, distributors, and studio/small cinemas on 1 February 2021.

Events:

8 -11 February: European Parliament Plenary

11 February: High Level Conference on topic “The changing face of Intellectual Property in the Digital Transition era” – INPI

11 February: EAO Online conference on the Digital Services Act package

15 February: Eurogroup meeting

24 & 25 February: CULT Meeting

International Union of Cinemas (UNIC)

27/10: 2020 UNIC Annual Report now available! – UNIC website

The report details key cinema trends across the 38 territories UNIC represents, alongside the usual update on cinema-going last year and policy developments at EU level, as well as some information on UNIC and the work we do here in Brussels.

COVID-19: Creative & cultural sectors (CCS)

3/11: European Cinema Body demands further public funding support for cinemas during COVID-19 – UNIC website

Following recent decisions requiring the closure of cinemas across a number of European countries in response to ‘spikes’ in COVID-19, European trade body the International Union of Cinemas (UNIC) has today renewed its call to national governments, the European Commission and the European Parliament to provide further public funding support to the sector to ensure that cinemas are able to survive the ongoing challenges presented by the COVID-19 crisis.

30/10: Inclusion of culture in the Recovery & Resilience Facility - Letters from the cultural & creative sectors – UNIC website

10 organisations have written to the European Commission and National Governments to call for culture to be an integral part of their national recovery and resilience plans and for the cultural and creative sectors to receive at least 2% of the Recovery and Resilience Facility budget, as called for by the European Parliament in its recent Resolution on the “Cultural Recovery of Europe”.

COVID-19: EU response

30/10: Remarks by President Charles Michel after the video conference of the members of the European Council on 29 October 2020 – European Council

29/10: InvestEU Fund: boost for sustainable, innovative and social investment – European Parliament

InvestEU aims to be a fund that provides support to EU investors by integrating and simplifying the financing, offered under a single budgetary guarantee scheme.

29/10: Covid-19: 10 things the EU is doing for economic recovery – European Parliament

Find out what the EU is doing to help Europe get back on its feet following the devastating economic effects brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

29/10: Statement by President von der Leyen at the joint press conference with President Michel, following the EU Leaders' videoconference on COVID-19 – European Commission

28/10: 2021 EU budget must focus on supporting a sustainable recovery from the pandemic – European Parliament

The main focus of the 2021 budget should be to mitigate the effects of the pandemic and support the recovery, building on the Green Deal and digital transformation.

28/10: EU budget talks: Council rejects Parliament’s breakthrough proposal – European Parliament

EP negotiators made a breakthrough proposal on the critical issue of how to count the costs of common debt in the next long-term EU budget. Council has rejected it blindly.

Copyright enforcement

/10: Report and study on the memorandum of understanding on online advertising and intellectual property rights – EAO newsletter

/10: CJEU: Opinion on copyright infringements through framing – EAO newsletter

EU Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD)

/10: (SI) Slovenia’s draft AVMS law introduces obligations to invest in European works – EAO newsletter

Events

3 November: Video conference of the Eurogroup

4 November: Video conference of economics and finance ministers

9 November: AV coalition meeting with German Presidency

20 November: EFADs roundtable

2 December: European Commission legislative proposal for the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Media and Audiovisual Action Plan - TBC

10 December: EAO elections for the Advisory Board

Recent studies

EAO - The number of European films making it from cinema to VOD is 2.6 times higher than the number of US films – November 2

Association of Independent Producers together with Creative Industry Forum, based on the data provided by individual segments of the Slovak audiovisual industry, have published an Overview of financial consequences of COVID-19 infection prevention and control measures for the sector of audiovisual production assessing the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the audiovisual production and film distribution sectors in Slovakia in 2020.

A living legend of cinema and one of the most intensely celebrated beauties of the world, Sophia Loren comes for the first time ever to Romania, as a special guest of the Transilvania International Film Festival. Sex symbol of the 50s - 70s, with a huge international popularity, Sophia Loren will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the closing gala of the 15th edition, on June 4, at the National Theatre in Cluj, Romania. On June 3, at 18:30, at the Students' Culture House, the actress will attend a special screening in her honor.

The fifth edition of the festival is going to draw to Katowice the producers from all over the world. They will track new film industry tendencies, discuss regional film funds and explore locations of Silesia.