Media agreement with the EU renewed

The Federal Council has submitted the dispatch on the renewal of the Media Agreement between Switzerland and the EU to Parliament. According to a communiqué from the Federal Office of Culture, participation in Media 2007 is subject to the condition that Switzerland applies a further provision of the EU "Television without Frontiers" Directive from November 2009. As a consequence, advertising windows of foreign broadcasters aimed at a Swiss audience would no longer be subject to Swiss law, but exclusively to the national regulations of the broadcaster's country of origin (e.g. regarding the authorization of alcohol or political advertising). This requires an amendment to the Swiss Radio and Television Act (RTVA) by means of a corresponding parliamentary resolution. The Federal Council will decide on the initiation of a corresponding revision of the RTVA at a later date and after carefully weighing up the interests involved. The status of work in connection with the revision of the Council of Europe Convention will have to be taken into account. According to the communiqué, the Federal Council has requested an annual Swiss contribution of around CHF 10 million to the funding program.
The media agreement is intended to improve the market opportunities and international distribution of Swiss films. It is not the actual production costs that are supported, but the areas before and after production: training of filmmakers (especially in the area of new technologies), project realization (screenplay), dubbing and, above all, distribution.
The last generation of media programs (2001-2006) made it possible to support around 8,000 productions from thirty countries. Half of the European films shown in cinemas today benefit from this Community support.