Spain

European Commission: Approval Granted to the Provision of Support for Audiovisual Productions in the Galician Language

IRIS 2008-8:1/36

Anne Yliniva-Hoffmann

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

In its decision of 5 August 2008, the European Commission gave its approval until 31 December 2011 of the state aid given to Galician language film productions, with a support budget of EUR 3.1 million.

The planned measures had been notified by the Spanish authorities on 23 January 2008. The objective of the scheme is to support and promote audiovisual productions that show the cultural aspects of Galicia using the Galician language, contribute towards the diversity of film in the Autonomous Community of Galicia and cannot be produced without contributions from public funds. The types of film supported under the scheme are cinema films at least 70 minutes long, documentary films at least 50 minutes long and (low budget) digital feature films at least 60 minutes long. The criterion for support is the cultural, linguistic and creative value of the production, which should ideally be directly related to the culture of Galicia.

The legal basis for the scheme is, inter alia, the Galician Audiovisual Law (Ley 6/1999, de 1 de septiembre, del audiovisual de Galicia) and the Galician film regulations (Bases reguladoras para la concesión, en régimen de concurrencia competitiva, de subvenciones para producciones o coproducciones audiovisuales en lengua gallega). The authority responsible is the Consellería de Cultura e Deporte, Xunta de Galicia (Culture and Sport Department of the Government of Galicia).

The Commission considers that this arrangement for the provision of state aid to promote culture is compatible with the Common Market under Article 87(3)(d) EC.