European Commission
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The circulation of European films helps demonstrate Europe’s cultural diversity and makes it possible for international audiences to discover and enjoy European audiovisual works. Wider circulation also means better market opportunities for European productions, which in turn improves the sector’s overall competitiveness, in particular vis-a-vis non-European players.
Nowadays, according to the European Audiovisual Observatory, European films showing anywhere in Europe outside their own country account for 31% of all films shown in European cinemas. For TV on-demand, the figure goes down to 19%, and for linear TV, it is only 15%. In order to improve these numbers, the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) group of Member States’ experts on improving circulation of European films has published a paper highlighting good practices and making recommendations to achieve broader circulation of European works, in particular non-national European films.
From increasing promotion through festivals, cinemas and the internet to activating coproductions and the whole value chain, the paper – addressing namely policy makers at national, sub-national and EU level – makes specific recommendations in ten areas, all of which have at their core the importance of the audience.