On Wednesday 6^th July, the EFADs held a plenary meeting in Karlovy Vary during the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. The addition of a fourth plenary meeting this year had been judged necessary and was decided during the previous one in Cannes in May.

As the meeting followed the UK’s decision to leave the European Union, this was one of the main topics of the meeting. The British Film Institute explained that the Brexit vote was a surprise to all and brings new challenges. EFADs President Peter Dinges emphasised that Europe is more than just the EU.

Members also agreed on a position paper regarding the European Commission’s proposal to revise of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD). The EFADs supports the Commission’s overall objective but believes there could be some improvements, especially concerning the country of origin principle (financial contributions), European quotas and prominence, film education and literacy, the protection of minors and transparency.

Finally, members took the decision to move ahead with an EFADs-CAACI joint co-production grant to be launched in San Sebastian in September. This €20,000 grant was officially announced on the 12^th August as you can read here.