Impact Study: UNESCO-Aschberg Programme for Artists and Cultural Professionals

The Protocol on Cultural Cooperation (PCC) and audiovisual co-productions: An unexplored opportunity

No EU Member State has designed specific cultural cooperation programmes to implement the PCC provisions. This is the case for both their cultural policy programmes and their

development cooperation programmes. That said, the situation is againmuchmore complex and nuanced on the ground. First, because of the question of competence and coordination between the EU, the national and regional levels. In Germany, for instance, the competence for culture, audiovisual affairs and education lies primarily with the Länder, the federal

No EUMember State has designed specific cultural cooperation programmes to implement the PCC provisions

regions, while at the same time development cooperation is a federal competence; the conclusion of film co-production agreements has shifted from the regional to the federal level. With regard to the most important PCC provision – that of preferential access to the EU market for CARIFORUM-EU co-productions – it should be stated that this provision has not been made operational. Since the EPA has entered into force, there have been no initiatives by EU Member States to start negotiations for bilateral co-production agreements for audiovisual works between individual EU Member States and individual CARIFORUM States. This relates to budget cuts and to the fact that Member States had been careful in signing new co-production agreements, as they were aware that they would also have to make funds available to implement these agreements. It should also be noted that for the Caribbean, capacities in audiovisual production generally remain rather low and concentrated among a handful of CARICOM countries. This is likely to be important when it comes to seeking forms of international co-productions and assistance, which tend to favour more established operations. In the audiovisual sector, only the United Kingdom has signed a bilateral co-production agreement with a CARIFORUM country, Jamaica.Yet, the treaty came into force on 19November 2007, i.e. before the EPA was signed. It is important to note that this agreement has not generated any film co‑productions.

50 Culture in the CARIFORUM-EU EPA