Germany

[DE] Development on the Franco-German “Mini-Treaty”

IRIS 2001-5:1/24

Meike Ridinger

Institute of European Media Law (EMR), Saarbrücken/Brussels

On 17 May 2001, Germany and France signed a treaty in Cannes on the provision of support for co-produced films (the so-called “Mini-Treaty”), which entered into force on 23 November 2001 (see IRIS 2004-10:Extra). This was the basis for the establishment of a Franco-German co-production fund, which has an annual budget of EUR three million and to which France and Germany have equal access.

Since then, the number of Franco-German co-productions has risen considerably. Whereas between 1994 and 1999 the figure was between one and five films per year, it jumped sharply after the signing of the Mini-Treaty. Since 2002, 47 mainly French and 23 mainly German co-productions have been made. Between 2002 and 2006, the number of co-productions stabilised at around ten a year. A further increase in 2007 can be put down to the creation of the DFFF (Deutscher FilmFörderFond, German Film Support Fond), which started operations on 1 January 2007 and has a budget of EUR 180 million over three years (see IRIS 2007-1: 3 and IRIS 2006-8: 12). 17 Franco-German co-productions were made in 2007 and this level was maintained in 2008. To date, there has been a higher proportion of French productions.