Administration
MEDIA is an abbreviation from French: Mesures pour Encourager le Développement de L'Industrie Audiovisuelle - "measures to support the development of the audiovisual industries. The MEDIA programme used to be jointly run by the European Commission Directorate-General for Education and Culture (DG EAC) [3] and the Education, Audiovisual & Culture Executive Agency (EACEA Unit P8), which was in charge of the operational management of the MEDIA programme. Since 2014, it is run by the European Commission Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (CONNECT). [4]
The MEDIA strand within the Creative Europe programme serves as a support system for the advancement of European film and audiovisual industries. Its primary objectives encompass the development, distribution, and promotion of European creative works, with a keen awareness of the contemporary digital landscape.
A core aspect of its mission involves active engagement with audiences of all demographics, with a particular emphasis on reaching and resonating with younger generations.
In a significant evolution, the 2021-2027 period saw the inception of the new Creative Europe programme, coinciding with MEDIA's 30th anniversary [5] . To enhance adaptability and foster synergies across the audiovisual value chain, the programme's priorities are now structured around four distinct clusters.
The MEDIA strand of the Creative Europe programme is dedicated to several key focal points [6] :
- Encouraging cooperation: This entails fostering collaboration both within the audiovisual value chain and at the European Union level to enhance the global reach of audiovisual enterprises and European content.
- Nurturing talents: MEDIA seeks to cultivate talents irrespective of their origins while broadening participation and collaboration across different countries.
- Supporting new technologies: The programme aims to facilitate the effective utilization of new technologies, ensuring that the digital transformation is fully harnessed within the industry.
- Fostering industry sustainability: This involves promoting environmentally sustainable practices within the audiovisual sector, as well as advocating for societal objectives such as gender balance and diversity.
These objectives translate into supporting actions categorized into four thematic clusters:
- Content: This cluster focuses on encouraging collaboration and innovation in the creation and production of high-quality audiovisual works. [7]
- Business: Here, the emphasis lies on promoting business innovation, competitiveness, scalability, and talent development to bolster Europe's audiovisual industry in the face of global competition. [8]
- Audience: This cluster aims to enhance the accessibility and visibility of audiovisual works to potential audiences through various distribution channels and audience development initiatives. [9]
- Policy: This cluster is dedicated to supporting policy discussions, exchange fora, studies, reports, as well as awareness-raising activities aimed at promoting a conducive environment for the audiovisual sector. [10]
The SOCRATES programme was an educational initiative of the European Commission; 31 countries took part. The initial Socrates programme ran from 1994 until 31 December 1999 when it was replaced by the Socrates II programme on 24 January 2000, which ran until 2006. This, in turn, was replaced by the Lifelong Learning Programme 2007–2013.
The Lifelong Learning Programme 2007–2013 was the European Union programme for education and training.
The Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, formerly known as the European Community Humanitarian Aid Office, is the European Commission's department for overseas humanitarian aid and for civil protection. It aims to save and preserve life, prevent and alleviate human suffering and safeguard the integrity and dignity of populations affected by natural disasters and man-made crises. Since September 2019, Janez Lenarčič is serving as Commissioner for Crisis Management in the Von der Leyen Commission, and since 1 March 2023, Maciej Popowski leads the organisation as the Director-General.
European Union culture policies aim to address and promote the cultural dimension of European integration through relevant legislation and government funding. These policies support the development of cultural activity, education or research conducted by private companies, NGO's and individual initiatives based in the EU working in the fields of cinema and audiovisual, publishing, music and crafts.
The Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology is a Directorate-General of the European Commission and is responsible for European Union investment in research, innovation and development of critical digital technologies.
Directorate-General for Environment is a Directorate-General of the European Commission, responsible for the Environmental policy of the European Union. In 2010 "relevant [climate change] activities in DG Environment" were moved to the new DG Climate Action. At the same time the DG Energy (ENER) was also established. The 2022 commissioner was Virginijus Sinkevičius.
The Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport is a Directorate-General of the European Commission responsible for transport within the European Union.
The European Education and Culture Executive Agency, or EACEA, is an executive agency of the European Commission located in Brussels, Belgium. It manages parts of the European Commission's funding programmes in education, culture, media, sport, youth, citizenship and humanitarian aid. EACEA has been operational since January 2006.
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is an independent body of the European Union with juridical personality, established in 2008 intended to strengthen Europe's ability to innovate. The EIT’s three “core pillars” of activities are: entrepreneurial education programmes and courses across Europe that transform students into entrepreneurs; business creation and acceleration services that scale ideas and budding businesses; and innovation-driven research projects that turn ideas into products by connecting partners, investors, and expertise.
The Directorate-General for International Partnerships is the European Commission department responsible for international development policy. It operates under the authority of the European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen.
The Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture is a Directorate-General of the European Commission.
The Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) of the European Commission is meant to improve the competitiveness of European companies facing the challenges of globalization. The programme is mainly aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which will receive support for innovation activities, better access to finance and business support services. It will run from 2007 to 2013.
Europeana is a web portal created by the European Union containing digitised cultural heritage collections of more than 3,000 institutions across Europe. It includes records of over 50 million cultural and scientific artefacts, brought together on a single platform and presented in a variety of ways relevant to modern users. The prototype for Europeana was the European Digital Library Network (EDLnet), launched in 2008.
The official traineeship scheme of the European Commission, also known as the Blue Book Traineeship, is a traineeship programme providing official in-service training with the European Commission. Aimed at young university graduates, it has been running since 1960 and is the biggest traineeship programme in the world. Traineeships, which start in October or March and last five months, are carried out in a Directorate-General or a service of the Commission, in a Commissioner's Cabinet, or in some of European Union's executive bodies and agencies. The programme is managed by a dedicated Traineeships Office within DG EAC, with an annual budget of €7 million, that runs a selection procedure to recruit approximately 600 trainees for each traineeship period.
Creative Europe is a is a funding programme established by the European Union to support the cultural, creative, and audiovisual sectors across Europe. The main objectives of the programme are:
On 6 May 2015, the European Commission, led at the time by Jean-Claude Juncker, established the Digital Single Market strategy, intended to remove virtual borders, boost digital connectivity, and make it easier for consumers to access cross-border online content across the European Union. The Digital Single Market, which is one of the Commission's 10 political priorities, aims to fit the EU's single market for the digital age, moving from 28 national digital markets to a single one, and then opening up digital services to all citizens and strengthen business competitiveness in the digital economy. In other words, the Digital Single Market is a market characterized by ensuring the free movement of people, services and capital and allowing individuals and businesses to seamlessly access and engage in online activities irrespective of their nationality or place of residence. Fair competition conditions and a high level of protection of personal and consumer data are applied.
On April 21, 2021 data.europa.eu was launched as a single access point for open data published by EU Institutions, national portals of EU Member states and non-member states, as well as international organisations of predominantly European scope. The portal consolidates datasets previously available via the EU Open Data Portal and the European Data Portal into a single meta-catalogue. The European Data Portal, launched in its beta version on November 16, 2015, was an initiative of the European Commission, and part of the Digital Single Market.
The Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space is a department of the European Commission.
