Media and Audiovisual Action Plan: implementation updates

The European Commission has adopted the Media and Audiovisual Action Plan to support the recovery and transformation of the media and audiovisual sector.

A digital globe surrounded by virtual screens of people interacting and using AV services online — © iStock by Getty Images -1129515284 metamorworks

The Action Plan focuses on three areas of activity and 10 concrete actions, to help the media sector recover from the crisis by facilitating and broadening access to finance, transform by stimulating investments to embrace the twin digital and green transitions while ensuring the sector's future resilience and empower European citizens and companies.

The different actions have been launched and implemented since 2021.

Please see the table below for more details on specific actions.

Action	Achievments
Action 1 — Easier access to EU support
A new interactive tool guiding media companies through the various support instruments	Media companies looking for EU funding can now navigate the CulturEU interactive tool to discover financing opportunities.
Action 2 — MEDIA INVEST aimed at boosting investment in the audiovisual industry
A dedicated equity investment to foster European audio-visual productions and distribution strategies	Commissioner Breton presented MediaInvest in 2022 at Cannes Film Festival. A call for expression of interest is open to financial intermediaries until June 2027. The first agreement was signed with the fund Logical Content Ventures, aiming to raise up to €70 million in equity investment for audiovisual.
Developing an investment pipeline through capacity building for investors and investment readiness for companies	European investors gathered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022 to discuss private investment into AV production and distribution and the advantages of IP exploitation. Capacity-building for investors is scheduled to start in 2024. It will focus on business opportunities in the investment into AV and video games production and distribution. A set of dedicated training materials for SMEs will be published in the second quarter of 2024.
Action 3 — 'NEWS': an initiative to bundle actions and support for the news media sector
Better access to finance, through loans and a pilot equity initiative	Guarantee instruments for cultural and creative sectors (CCS) under Invest EU are open for applications by the financial intermediaries, who extend loans to creative sectors, including news media. Equity instruments for CCS under Invest EU are equally open to funds with a focus on investment into CCS, including news media.
Capacity building among investors and media	Capacity-building for investors is scheduled to start in 2024. It will focus on business opportunities in the investment into CCS, including news media. A set of dedicated training materials for companies active in the CCS will be published in the second quarter of 2024.
Support for news media to work on collaborative transformation	Since 2021, the new yearly action Journalism Partnerships under Creative Europe programme supports cross-border projects. Seven projects were funded in 2021, twelve projects in 2022 and eight projects in 2023. The latest call for proposals is under evaluation.
European News Media Forum	The Commission has engaged in regular exchanges with the news media industry to better understand its priorities and challenges and work towards a news media innovation agenda. The first edition (March 2021) discussed the safety of journalists. The second edition (November 2021) focused on industrial transformation. The third edition (November 2022) revolved around media innovation. The fourth edition (December 2023) discussed the safety of journalists.
Action 4 — Unleashing innovation through a European media data space and encouraging new business models
Create a Media Data Space to support media companies in sharing data and developing innovative solutions	A call for proposals for a media data space was published under Digital Europe programme. The awarded project Trusted European Media Data Spaces (TEMS) launched at the end of 2023 and will run until 2026.
European Media Industry Outlook Report	The first edition of the European Media Industry Outlook was published in May 2023. The next edition of this report – which explores media trends and analyses their potential impact on EU media markets, is foreseen for early 2025.
Action 5 — Fostering a European Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR) industrial coalition
VR/AR industry coalition to stimulate cooperation across industry sectors and ensure European leadership	Following thematic workshops with the industry and the publication of a strategic paper of the European VR/AR ecosystem (including a market assessment policy recommendations), the VR/AR Industrial Coalition launched in 2022 and will follow a roadmap developed by the VR/AR ecosystem and endorsed by the Commission. More information available here.
Launch a VR Media Lab on projects for new ways of storytelling and interacting	A call for proposals to help media innovate (including via extended reality) was published under Horizon Europe. Four projects have been awarded and started at the end of 2022.
Action 6 — Towards a climate-neutral media sector
A structured cooperation Forum with the industry and (sub)national film and audiovisual funds	A stakeholder dialogue on the greening of the AV sector launched in 2021 resulted in a common statement in favour of a unified measurement methodology of carbon emissions for audiovisual works. In 2023, the Commission procured the development of a European calculator to assess the CO2 impact of audiovisual works. The project was launched in January 2024 and will run until December 2027.
Action 7 — Towards a broader availability of audiovisual content across the EU
Launch a dialogue with the audiovisual industry in order to agree on concrete steps to improve the access to and availability of audiovisual content across borders in the EU	High-level meetings were held in 2021 and 2022 aimed at improving the access to and availability of audiovisual content across EU Member States. Participants submitted written contributions on how they can contribute to improving the online availability and cross-border access to audiovisual works across the EU. These were discussed at the last meeting, but no consensual approach emerged. As a conclusion, the Commission encouraged all interested participants to produce a concrete roadmap or action plan to improve the online exploitation and cross-border access to catalogue / heritage films in unsold territories.
Action 8 — Fostering European media talents
New mentoring programmes for Europe’s media talents	Calls for proposals for ‘Fostering European Media Talents and Skills’ have been published under the MEDIA strand of Creative Europe programme. 66 projects have been funded following calls in 2021 and 2022.
Campaign on diversity: Promoting all talents	The online campaign CharactHer aimed at fostering gender equality in the European film and media industries, through the testimonials of 12 female professionals. A dedicated website has been regularly updated with videos and data.
Creative Innovation Labs open to startups and scaleups	Since 2021 ‘Creative Innovation Labs’ calls for proposals are published under Creative Europe programme to support projects that design, develop and/or spread innovative tools, models, or solutions applicable in the European audiovisual (AV) and other CCS. 25 projects have been funded, following yearly calls for proposals in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The 2024 call for proposal is open until 25 April 2024.
Action 9 – Empowering citizens
Practical application of the new media literacy obligations of the AVMSD (media literacy toolbox and guidelines to Member States)	The European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA) has established a dedicated Action Group on Media Literacy to exchange best practices related to the tools and measures deployed by national media regulatory authorities to promote or develop media literacy. The Action Group has developed a Media Literacy Toolbox focusing on video-sharing platforms. In line with the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), the Commission has issued guidelines for Member States when reporting on the measures for promoting and developing media literacy skills. The guidelines also aim to help Member States share best practices on media literacy. The first set of national reports are available for the period 2020-2022.
Support the creation of alternative media content aggregation services	A call for proposals for ‘Trustworthy Open Search and Discovery’ was launched under Horizon Europe programme in 2021. Two projects have been selected and started in September 2022 and will end in 2024.
Action 10 — Ensuring the functioning of the European media market
Strengthen the cooperation framework among European media regulators within the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA)	Throughout 2021 and in the first half of 2022, the Commission took stock of best practices in cross-border cooperation and assessed the application of ERGA’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Considering a need for a legal framework to reinforce cooperation and convergence, the Commission added a section on the matter in its 2022 proposal for a European Media Freedom Act (see section 3, article 13). On 15 December 2023, the European Parliament and the Council reached a political agreement on the European Media Freedom Act.

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