The court (www.constcourt.bg) has decided that the amendment to the Film Industry Act introduced by the Bulgarian parliament (www.parliament.bg) in the 2011 State Budget Law on 2 December 2010 violated the country’s constitution.

The court’s decision means that the government must review the planned budget cuts and increase support for film funding for 2011. To bring funding into line with the requirements of the Film Industry Act the government support for 2011 would have to be 9 049 866 EUROS.The decision reinstates Cl.17 of the Film Industry Act which states that the annual amount of the public support for film "can not be less than the average budget amount from the previous year, respectively 7 features, 14 full length documentaries and 160 minutes animation." The Bulgarian parliament had tried to water down the act by introducing the words “if possible and “up to” into the text. But the court said that this amendment to the text “is rather a wish and its application is subject to subjective assessment – something inadmissible by the law”. Members of the budget committee of the Parliament believe that the court decision will not engender new changes to the State Budget Law because the required amount can be provided from the reserve.

When the now illegal amendment was passed at the end fo 2010 Bulgarian Minister of Culture Vejdi Rashidov defended the move saying that in the conditions of a highly restricted budget for culture as a whole, the parliament had the right to introduce changes.

After the nullification of the controversial amendment some film associations still fear that the Film Industry Act could be subject to new changes.

The Ministry of Culture has not published an official statement following the court’s decision. The case is expected to first be discussed in the Parliament.