European Screen Directors’ position on the AgoraEU proposal

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The Federation of European Screen Directors (FERA) welcomes the European Commission’s proposal for the new AgoraEU Programme, which sets out a new architecture and direction for Europe’s cultural and creative sectors. We acknowledge the significant increase in the proposed budget, align with the Programme’s overarching objectives, and understand the context and rationale behind the proposal.

At the same time, FERA believes that important questions remain unanswered. Further work is needed for AgoraEU to meet expectations, reassure the current concerns of the sectors, and, in our case, to respond effectively to the particular needs of European screen directors. In particular, the new Programme must be able to support the long-term viability and sustainability of the profession, and to enable European screen directors to fully play their essential role in shaping Europe’s democratic, diverse, and resilient societies.

As the independent voice of European screen directors in Brussels—representing their cultural, creative, and economic interests at both national and EU level—FERA therefore calls on EU decision-makers to ensure that AgoraEU, and more specifically its audiovisual strand – is ambitious, coherent, and fit for purpose, and to take into account the following key considerations.

The Creative Europe Media Programme has been, and still is, a crucial programme for the support and further development of the European audiovisual sector. It is therefore key that its successor builds on previous achievements and keeps investing in the future of our European creative communities.

1. 1. Strengthen – Build on what already exists

The MEDIA programme is approaching its 35th anniversary. Over the years, numerous reports, evaluations, and data have consistently demonstrated its positive impact on the European audiovisual sector as a whole, as well as its significant spillover effects for European citizens. From fostering cultural and linguistic diversity to strengthening democratic societies; and from supporting the circulation of European works and talents across borders to generating measurable economic benefits for the European audiovisual sector, MEDIA has become a cornerstone of Europe’s audiovisual ecosystem and cultural policy framework.

Films such as Cold War, Border, and The Worst Person in the World were each distributed in more than 20–30 countries thanks to the MEDIA distribution support, enabling European audiences to be exposed to stories reflecting diverse languages, identities, and cultural perspectives.

FERA therefore considers it essential that the strong foundations laid by the MEDIA programme over the past 35 years are fully recognised and preserved within AgoraEU. Rather than weakening or diluting its core principles, the new Programme should consolidate and reinforce what has already been shown to work, ensuring continuity, predictability, and ambition for the European audiovisual ecosystem.

In today’s unstable world, long-term continuity of the programme is more than an mere requirement. Maintaining a focus across funding periods on cultural diversity objectives, independent production support, and cross-border circulation priorities, will not only ensure that the Programme builds on what already exists, it will also guarantee that the sector can keep on planning multi-year projects, building sustainable and creative companies, and developing long-term artistic collaborations across Europe.

CALL TO ACTION: Build the AgoraEU audiovisual strand on the proven success of the current MEDIA programme by safeguarding its core objectives, tools, and sector-specific approach, and by ensuring continuity and long-term stability for the European audiovisual sector.

2. 2. Clarify – Precision is not a constraint to flexibility

FERA is fully aware of the broader budgetary pressures affecting Europe and beyond. European screen directors—like many artists and authors—are already directly impacted by this reality on a daily basis. We therefore understand and support the need to pool resources, increase efficiency, streamline application processes, and introduce greater flexibility within EU funding programmes.

However, we do not believe that these objectives are achieved by overtly simplifying the semantics of legal texts. In its current form, the AgoraEU proposal is sadly lacking in precision, and crucial terms such as authors, independent production, and cinemas are absent from the text thus creating many uncertainties. These terms are not restrictive or burdensome for programme implementation; on the contrary, they provide essential clarity by precisely defining:

— Clear, measurable and achievable cultural objectives

— Programme scope and implementation

— Works and beneficiaries eligible for programme support

— Transparent territorial and partnership eligibility rules

— Eligibility criteria and governance mechanisms

Clarity ensures legal certainty. In turn, legal certainty is a prerequisite for trust, stability, and effective participation by programme beneficiaries. Many European screen directors already operate in a highly constrained environment, marked by geopolitical instability, rising inflation, and a project-based economic model built on risk-taking and often unpaid development work. In this context, uncertainty about future support mechanisms undermines the resilience and sustainability of the profession.

On the contrary, terminology that clearly and precisely defines the above listed elements provide European screen directors and other sector stakeholders with the stability and confidence needed to:

— Develop projects aligned with long-term cultural priorities.

— Dedicate their time and creative energy to ambitious, innovative, and pioneering storytelling

— Pursue meaningful artistic and societal narratives without the risk of sudden policy shifts redirecting support towards purely commercial criteria.

— Build international collaborations and well-structured co-productions

— Navigate funding compatibility across European systems with greater certainty and efficiency

CALL TO ACTION:

— (Re)introduce the words: authors, independent, film, and cinema in the AgoraEU proposal to ensure consistency and continuity between the current MEDIA Programme and its successor.

— Improve the overall text clarity and precision by further defining the Programme scope, priorities, beneficiaries, implementation and governance rules, ultimately restoring legal certainty and confidence for sector stakeholders in predictable regulatory and funding frameworks.

3. 3. Earmark – Predictability is a condition for efficiency and impact

Creative works do not materialise overnight. They require long development cycles, sustained investment, and the ability to plan over several years. For film directors, this reality is particularly acute: on average, a director may release a feature film only every five years. In this context, predictability of available support schemes is not a luxury but a precondition for efficiency and impact.

Film-making is a complex, collective process involving multiple skills, professions, and layers of financial risk—for creators, producers, distributors, and cinemas alike. Creative projects can only be planned effectively when creators and sector stakeholders know which support schemes will be available, under what conditions, and over what timeframe. The €1.4 billion earmarked in the current Creative Europe MEDIA Programme for the 2021-2027 period do provide the sector with the clarity and stability needed for long-term creative planning and impactful projects.

Conversely, the merging of the MEDIA strand with the news sector under the current AgoraEU proposal, combined with the absence of clear earmarking between the two envelopes, creates significant uncertainty and confusion for stakeholders in both sectors. European screen directors already operate in a highly uncertain professional environment; removing clarity and stability in available funding options further undermines their ability to develop and sustain careers.

If European film is to continue playing a meaningful role in shaping Europe’s democratic discourse and cultural diversity, filmmakers must be able to envision a future in the sector. It is therefore essential that funds earmarked for the audiovisual sector only within AgoraEU:

— Take current real prices and inflation costs into account

— Represent a share of the total Programme budget that, at bare minimum, reflects its current weight under the 2021-2027 Creative Europe MEDIA Programme

— Represent an increase that is proportionate, in light of the overall proposed AgoraEU budget, to the one granted to the Culture strand when comparing with the current Creative Europe programme culture strand.

This level of allocation should constitute the minimum basis for negotiations.

CALL TO ACTION: Clearly earmark and communicate the funding envelope allocated to the audiovisual sector within AgoraEU, ensuring predictability, reliability, a stable basis for long-term creative planning, and maximise the Programme’s cultural and societal impact.

4. 4. Safeguard independence – A prerequisite for artistic freedom and diversity

Several essential concepts are absent from the current audiovisual strand in the AgoraEU proposal, among them the notion of independence. This term is not merely a technical criterion for eligibility; it lies at the very heart of artistic freedom, innovation, and pluralistic European narratives. Throughout the different generations of the funding programme, the requirement that beneficiaries remain independent has helped ensure that MEDIA functions as:

— A cultural policy instrument rather than a pure industrial subsidy

— A safeguard for artistic authorship

— A mechanism to maintain pluralistic storytelling

— A counterweight to global market consolidation

In turn, independent Programme beneficiaries enable European screen directors to develop and pursue original projects, experiment with form, express diverse perspectives, and contribute to a plurality of narratives free from undue economic, political, or editorial constraints. Independent producers function as long-term creative partners rather than project-specific financiers.

The risks associated with excessive concentration of power are far from theoretical. There have been instances where screen directors were sidelined following artistic disagreements, resistance to imposed editorial choices, or misalignment with a prevailing political or strategic direction within powerful audiovisual groups. In some cases, this has resulted in projects being halted and directors effectively prevented from continuing their professional activity. Such situations highlight the structural vulnerability of directors in highly concentrated markets, where professional dependence can limit creative freedom. They underscore the need not only for direct financial support for directors, but also for the existence of genuinely independent producers able to operate free from undue pressure or retaliatory practices.

By supporting truly independent creation, public policy ensures cultural diversity—one of the stated objectives of AgoraEU—and counters the risks of excessive concentration, standardisation, and uniformisation of the audiovisual landscape. It protects creators from market dominance by large corporations, ensures that screen directors working with independent producers know the projects they invest time and energy in will remain eligible and, most importantly, it supports a public service crucial for our democracy which enables wider representation and fosters critical thinking.

It is therefore a matter of concern that the notion of independence appears prominently in the news and media pluralism strand of the proposal, yet is absent from the audiovisual section, despite both areas sharing the same funding envelope.

Supporting independent creation also strengthens Europe’s cultural competitiveness and protects its cultural model and way of life, which are explicitly identified as priorities of the Programme. Independence is therefore more than just a requirement when filling in applications for financial support, it is crucial to our cultural readiness, to contribute building our European Democracy Shield, and a cornerstone of our democratic societies.

CALL TO ACTION: Explicitly reintroduce and safeguard the notion of independence throughout the AgoraEU proposal, including within the entire audiovisual strand, for the benefit of European screen directors, all audiovisual authors, and the wider cultural and creative ecosystems.

5. 5. Serve the entire ecosystem – A programme with direct opportunities for all

The European audiovisual sector functions as an interconnected ecosystem in which all actors depend on one another. Support granted to one part of the value chain generates positive spillover effects for the entire sector. However, for these effects to be meaningful and sustainable, funding programmes must be actively designed to support all key actors directly—not only indirectly.

At present, European screen directors benefit from MEDIA support largely as indirect beneficiaries. While this support is already invaluable, it is insufficient to address their specific professional and creative needs today. European screen directors are authors and artists, yet unlike their counterparts in other cultural fields, they often lack access to direct support mechanisms such as residencies, mobility programmes, peer exchange opportunities, mentoring, networking opportunities, and tailored capacity-building initiatives.

In a rapidly evolving creative and technological environment, European screen directors need the time and dedicated spaces to develop projects, exchange experiences—including on issues such as self-censorship—learn from peers, and acquire new skills, particularly in relation to emerging technologies and their ethical use.

Several EU co-funded initiatives, such as Culture Moves Europe, European networks of cultural and creative organisations, and Erasmus+ Youth Exchanges, already recognise the importance of supporting individual creators directly and they demonstrate that direct access to funding strengthens artistic innovation, enables risk-taking, supports cultural diversity, and fosters sustainable creative careers. Extending or replicating these existing support mechanisms to the benefit of European screen directors would strengthen the sector and align the Programme with broader EU cultural and innovation policies.

CALL TO ACTION:

— Ensure that AgoraEU audiovisual strand is designed and implemented for the benefit of the entire ecosystem, including through calls that provide direct support to European screen directors, and not solely to intermediary structures or projects.

— Extend or replicate existing mechanisms and opportunities with direct access for artists to European screen directors within AgoraEU and other funding programmes (Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe)

6. 6. Embed values in implementation – Ethics, fair work, and equality

While the overall and specific objectives of the AgoraEU proposal offer a coherent response to some of the challenges facing cultural and creative industries, the text currently lacks in clarity and operational details to effectively address those challenges. For European screen directors, three areas require particular attention.

Ethical use of AI: Innovation and the uptake of new technologies must be accompanied by strong ethical safeguards and clear guidelines, for the benefit of creators, audiences, and society as a whole. In the context of the rapid development of AI tools, public funding must set a clear example: supporting innovation and competitiveness while keeping human creators at the centre of the creative process and fostering quality jobs across the sector.

Cultural works generated entirely by AI should not be eligible for public funding. Where AI tools are used as part of the creative or development process, their use should be clearly disclosed and made transparent, both at application stage and in reporting obligations. Ethical principles and transparency requirements should therefore be explicitly integrated as eligibility conditions across all relevant calls, in order to safeguard artistic integrity, authorship, and Europe’s cultural diversity.

Working conditions: AgoraEU is intended to operate in close complementarity with the European Commission’s Culture Compass and to serve as a concrete means of delivering its policy objectives. The ambitions set out in the Culture Compass regarding artists’ working conditions must therefore be reflected in AgoraEU’s funding criteria and implementation.

Public funding should not contribute—directly or indirectly—to the precarisation of artists through projects that fail to ensure fair remuneration, viable career paths, and quality jobs. While some screen directors may benefit indirectly from MEDIA-supported projects, they rarely receive direct support for essential phases of their creative work, such as development and promotion. The former requires them to invest a vast amount of time, at own costs, on uncertain outcomes; the later requires they contribute with that same time, and most often for free, to the projects’ overall visibility. Although both are an intrinsic part of their work and bring about great added-value, they are very rarely compensated.

Social conditionality and respect of artists’ working conditions should therefore be integrated as a core criterion when selecting and awarding publicly supported projects, ensuring that creators are properly remunerated for their work throughout all stages of the project.

Gender equality: Despite progress, gender imbalance remains a structural issue in the audiovisual sector, particularly in access to higher-budget projects. From 2017 to 2021, the European Audiovisual Observatory notes that the budget for fiction films directed by women is on average 17% lower than for those directed by men[1]. More recent studies show that, while some progress have been made, we’re now hitting a glass ceiling across Europe in the average percentage of film directed by women (25% for the 2020-2024 period)[2]. FERA therefore welcomes the strong emphasis placed on gender equality in the AgoraEU proposal. However, experience shows that objectives alone are insufficient. Without clear implementation measures, monitoring tools, and evaluation mechanisms, commitments risk remaining declaratory rather than delivering tangible change.

CALL TO ACTION: Translate AgoraEU’s overall and specific objectives into clear, enforceable implementation measures by embedding ethical AI safeguards, fair working conditions, and gender equality requirements across funding criteria, calls, and monitoring mechanisms, ensuring that these core values are effectively delivered in practice for European screen directors and the wider cultural and creative sectors.

7. 7. Strengthen governance – From ambition to accountability

The proposed AgoraEU Regulation removes the annexes that accompanied the current Creative Europe framework. These annexes played a key role in translating policy objectives into concrete actions, clarifying scope and expectations. Their absence renders the current proposal overly vague and creates uncertainty among stakeholders. Without clear benchmarks and responsibilities, it becomes difficult to assess progress, ensure accountability, or adapt the Programme to the sectors’ needs at a given point in time.

Flexibility should not come at the expense of transparency or measurability; effective policy-making depends on clear objectives and the ability to evaluate outcomes.

In addition, the success of the Creative Europe MEDIA programme has relied not only on funding, but on its strong governance framework. Yet the current proposal lacks concrete provisions on how Member States and the European Parliament will oversee the implementation of AgoraEU throughout its lifetime. Compared to the previous framework, the removal of references to implementing acts creates a significant gap in governance, leaving unanswered questions as to how implementation will be monitored and adjusted, particularly in a context where increased flexibility is sought.

Where flexibility is required, clear decision-making mechanisms must be established, including transparent criteria for assessing relevance, necessity, and scope. Robust governance structures are essential to enable co-legislators to effectively oversee implementation, ensure that work programmes remain aligned with sectoral needs, and allow for timely prioritisation and resource allocation in response to evolving realities.

At a time when Europe seeks to strengthen cultural sovereignty and global competitiveness, maintaining strong and clearly defined governance within MEDIA remains a strategic necessity.

CALL TO ACTION: Reinforce the AgoraEU proposal with clearer provisions on implementation, monitoring, reporting, and accountability, including through the reintroduction of annexes or equivalent mechanisms that provide operational clarity and measurable objectives.

[1] https://rm.coe.int/2022-patrizia-simone-gender-2022/1680a950ac

[2] https://femmesdecinema.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/SYNTHESIS-2025.pdf

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