Today, the Commission is launching “Media Invest”, a new financing tool to boost Europe’s audiovisual industry. With funds coming from InvestEU and the Creative Europe MEDIA programme, Media Invest is expected to leverage €400 million of investments over a 7-year period. Executive Vice-President for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age, Margrethe Vestager said: “MediaInvest is a new investment tool designed to bridge the financial gap in the audiovisual sector. We need to stimulate more private investment to make our European media sector competitive at global level.” Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, is today representing the Commission at the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival to meet industry leaders and professionals of the audiovisual sector. He will open the European Film Forum, and officialise the launch. He shared the following ahead of the opening: “Media Invest-which I am launching today with our partners from the European Investment Fund – will strengthen European audiovisual industry, frequently underfinanced and in need of equity. It will crowd in up to€400 million in private investment to foster European audio-visual production and distribution and help companies better exploit their intellectual property assets.” Media Invest is one of the 10 key actions of the Media and Audiovisual Action Plan presented in December 2020 to support the recovery and transformation of the media and audiovisual sector by combining investment with policy actions. You can find more information on ‘MediaInvest’ in this factsheet.
EU disburses €600 million in Macro-Financial Assistance to Ukraine
The European Commission, on behalf of the EU, has today disbursed €600 million in Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) to Ukraine. Following Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion, this urgent financial support helps Ukraine address its acute financing gap related to its exceptional humanitarian and defence needs. The first instalment of €600 million from this emergency Macro-Financial Assistance operation was disbursed in two tranches on 11 and 18 March. The disbursement follows an assessment of the authorities’ progress with implementing the structural policy measures agreed in the Memorandum of Understanding. The Commission has concluded that the authorities, overall, have taken action towards the implementation of the agreed conditionality. However, the current war circumstances constitute an event of force majeure that impedes the effective completion of the structural policy measures. As an exceptional response to the acute financing needs of Ukraine, and since the conditionality cannot be achieved at this stage for reasons of force majeure, the Commission decided to proceed with the disbursement of the second tranche as a matter of urgency. Since the Russian aggression started, the EU has significantly stepped up its support, mobilising around €4.1 billion to support Ukraine’s overall economic, social and financial resilience. On 18 May, the Commission set out plans in a Communication for the EU’s immediate response to address Ukraine’s financing gap, as well as the longer-term reconstruction framework, envisaging to propose granting Ukraine in 2022 additional macro-financial assistance in the form of loans of up to €9 billion. A press release is available here.
The Commission supports EU farmers through rural development funds and steps up its monitoring of agricultural markets
Today, the Commission proposed an exceptional measure funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) to allow Member States to pay a one-off lump sum to farmers and agri-food businesses affected by significant increases in input costs. Once adopted by the co-legislators, this measure will allow Member States to decide to use available funds of up to 5% of their EAFRD budget for the years 2021-2022 for direct income support for farmers and SMEs active in processing, marketing or development of agricultural products. Member States are required to target this support to beneficiaries who are most affected by the current crisis and who are engaged in circular economy, nutrient management, efficient use of resources or environmental and climate friendly production methods. The Commission is also stepping up its monitoring of the main agricultural markets impacted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Following a decision published today, Member States will have to notify the Commission their monthly level of stocks of cereals, oilseeds, rice and certified seeds of these products held by relevant producers, wholesalers and operators. The Commission also launched today a dedicated dashboard presenting up-to-date, detailed statistics on prices, production, and trade of milling wheat, maize, barley, rapeseed, sunflower oil, and soya beans at EU and global level. This provides market operators a timely and accurate picture of the availability of essential commodities for food and feed. Today’s exceptional proposal follows the €500 million support package for EU farmers adopted on 23 March in the framework of the Communication on “safeguarding food security and reinforcing the resilience of food systems”. A press release and a factsheet are available online and more information are available here.
Hong Kong and Macao: EU publishes annual report on political and economic developments
The European Commission and the High Representative have today adopted their latest annual reports on political and economic developments in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and in the Macao Special Administrative Region during the year 2021. The annual report on political and economic developments in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region highlights that, in 2021, the ‘one country, two systems’ principle in Hong Kong was further undermined by the implementation of the National Security Law (NSL). The year started with the mass arrest of 55 pro-democracy activists, including prominent political figures, in early January, and ended with the elections of a Legislative Council devoid of opposition on 19 December. High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell, said: “The 24th Annual Report comes at a time when fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong have deteriorated further. We witness continued shrinking space for civil society and the erosion of what was previously a vibrant and pluralistic media landscape.” The European Union was Hong Kong’s third largest trading partner in goods in 2021, after Mainland China and Taiwan. The annual report on political and economic developments in the Macao Special Administrative Region highlights that the way in which the ‘one country, two systems’ principle was implemented undermined the political rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Macao. The annual report refers in particular to the increasing challenges for Macao’s media to express a broad range of views, and the practice of more and more self-censorship. The Macao government has exercised stringent control on the spread of COVID-19 to ensure quarantine-free travel with Mainland China. The European Union remained Macao’s second-largest trading partner in goods after mainland China. The two full press releases are available online: Hong Kong and Macao.
Source: Cyprus News Agency