PURPOSE: to extend the entitlement to co-productions
as provided for in the Protocol on Cultural Cooperation to the Free
Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States,
of the one part, and Korea, of the other part.
PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the
act only if Parliament has given its consent to the act.
BACKGROUND: the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the
European Union and its Member States and South Korea was signed on
6 October 2010 and has been concluded in 2015 by adopting the
Council Decision 2015/2169 on the conclusion of the Free Trade
Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the
one part, and Korea, of the other part.
The Protocol on Cultural Cooperation, concluded by the
Parties within the framework of the FTA, established a framework
within which the Parties shall cooperate to facilitate exchanges in
cultural activities, goods and services, including in the
audio-visual sector, and to improve the conditions governing such
exchanges.
This entitlement was initially established for a
period of three years (from 1 July 2011 until 30 June 2014). It was
renewed for another three years until 30 June 2017 by the Council
Implementing Decision 2014/226/EU as regards the extension of the
period of entitlement for audio-visual co-productions as provided
for in Article 5 of the Protocol on Cultural Cooperation to the
Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member
States, of the one part, and the Republic of Korea, of the other
part.
It is now proposed that this entitlement be renewed
for another three years.
CONTENT: with this proposed Decision, the entitlement
for audio-visual co-productions to benefit from the respective
schemes of the Parties for the promotion of local/regional cultural
content is renewed for a duration of three years, from 1 July 2017
to 30 June 2020.
Co-production: for the
purposes of this Protocol, a co-production shall mean an
audio-visual work produced by producers of both Korea and the EU
Party into which those producers have invested.
The Parties shall encourage the negotiation of new and
implementation of existing coproduction agreements between one or
several Member States of the European Union and Korea.
Benefits: the Parties
may grant financial benefits to co-produced audio-visual works as
defined in relevant existing or future bilateral co-production
agreements to which one or several Member States of the European
Union and Korea are parties.
They shall facilitate co-productions through
entitlement for co- productions to benefit from respective schemes
for the promotion of local/regional cultural content.
Co-produced audio-visual works shall be entitled to benefit from EU
Party scheme. Moreover, they shall also be entitled to benefit from
Korean schemes for the promotion of local/regional cultural
content.
In this regard, the Agreement provides for a series of
conditions, notably one that stipulates that the co-produced
audio-visual works shall be realised between undertakings which are
owned and continue to be owned, whether directly or by
majority participation, by a Member State of the European Union or
Korea respectively and/or by nationals of a Member State of the
European Union or nationals of Korea respectively.
It is also noted that the contribution of each
Partys producers (taken together) includes effective
technical and artistic participation and a balance is ensured
between the two Parties contributions. In particular,
in co-produced audio-visual works other than animation works the
technical and artistic contribution of each Partys producers
(taken together) shall not vary by more than 20 percentage points
compared to their financial contribution and cannot in any case
represent more than 70 percent of the overall contribution. With
respect to animation works the technical and artistic contribution
of each Partys producers (taken together) shall not vary by
more than 10 percentage points compared to their financial
contribution and cannot in any case represent more than 65 percent
of the overall contribution.
European character of the
co-productions: the aim is to ensure
the European character of the co-productions, by having at least
two Member States, and to ensure a fair balance in the costs
and benefits of the coproduction for the parties. Therefore
there is a minimum financial contribution for the parties whilst
the technical and artistic contribution, which consists of
professional inputs and therefore represents employment
opportunities, should not be 10% more than the financial
contribution. The requirements for animation works are higher due
to the sensitivity of the sector.