14/11/2011

The political forces in the German parliament reached an agreement on the general budget for 2012 for a total expenditure of €306.200m, €200m more than the amount anticipated by the executive committee led by Angela Merkel.

Within that, we can see a 5.1% increase in the amount earmarked for the Federal Commissioner for Culture and Media (Bundesbeauftragter für Kultur und Medien, BKM) which should guarantee the continuity and, above all, the strength of, among other programmes, the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), which would once again have a budget of €60m.

Like in 2011, €4m would also be allocated for the digitisation of theatres. However, most of the budget increase is due to an activity unrelated to the film industry: the third Special Programme for the Protection of Monuments. The rest of the items related to cinema and audiovisual, such as those allocated for the Deutsche Kinemathek, international promotion and the German Film Institute (DFI), remain stable.

Shortly after finding out the news, Commissioner Bernd Neumann expressed his satisfaction and emphasised that “the fact that the members of the coalition government are not only not making cuts, but are increasing the budget for culture despite the economic and financial crisis is exemplary if we compare it with [the actions of] other European governments”.

Deliberations over the bill will take place from November 21-25 in parliament.

(Translated from Spanish)