Belgium

[BE/FR] Co-production Agreement between Belgium’s French Community and France

IRIS 2004-5:1/32

Marie-Anne Buron

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

On 16 May 2004, Belgium’s French Community and the French Republic signed a two-year renewable agreement aimed at supporting the co-production of cinematographic works. This replaces the 1962 agreement on cinematographic relations.

According to the agreement, cinematographic works co-produced in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in it are regarded as domestically produced and thus reap the benefits associated with this classification. The conditions for enjoying these benefits are as follows: works must have been approved by each party’s competent authorities (the Centre du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel [Cinema and Audiovisual Centre] and the Centre National de la Cinématographie [National Film Centre]) within four months of their cinema release; the production companies that produce the works must provide evidence of their technical and financial organisation; the proportion of the input of one party’s co-producers must amount to at least 10%; there must be a general balance between the artistic, technical and financial contributions; and, finally, the credits and advertising material must mention the co-production between Belgium and France.

The implementation of these conditions is examined by each party’s competent authorities and by the Joint Commission set up under the agreement.