26 February 2026
On 26 February, in the context of the current negotiations on the AgoraEU proposal, FERA, along with stakeholders from the audiovisual value chain, was invited to provide its recommendations to the members of the European Parliament in charge of the file, Emma Rafowicz & Alice Kuhnke, as well as representatives from various political groups. CEO Julie Belgrado delivered the following four key messages.
Independent production lies at the very heart of artistic freedom, innovation, and pluralistic European narratives. The requirement that current MEDIA beneficiaries be independent has helped ensure that the Programme functions as a cultural policy instrument rather than a pure industrial subsidy, a counterweight to global market consolidation, and a safeguard for artistic authorship and pluralistic storytelling. FERA calls on the European Parliament to explicitly reintroduce and safeguard the notion of independence for the audiovisual sector in the AgoraEU proposal to the benefit of all audiovisual authors, and the wider cultural and creative ecosystems.
In its current form, the proposal relies on semantic simplification that creates uncertainty. Crucial terms – such as authors – are absent from the text. These terms are not restrictive or burdensome for programme implementation; on the contrary, they provide essential clarity. Clarity ensures legal certainty, a prerequisite for trust, stability, and effective participation by programme beneficiaries. FERA believes precision is not a constraint to flexibility and urges to maintain clear terminology to explicitly define its scope, priorities, beneficiaries, and implementation rules.
Creative works require long development cycles, sustained investment, and the ability to plan over several years. On average, a director may release a feature film only every five years; in this context, predictability of available support schemes is a precondition for efficiency and impact. 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. Clear visibility on funding allocations within AgoraEU is therefore essential to reassure all audiovisual stakeholders, enable long-term planning, and maximise the Programme’s cultural and societal impact.
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, mentoring, tailored capacity-building initiatives and the likes. Several initiatives in other sectors already demonstrate that direct access to funding strengthens artistic innovation, enables risk-taking, and fosters sustainable creative careers. Support to the audiovisual sector in AgoraEU should therefore be designed and implemented with opportunities for the entire ecosystem in mind.