Learning from Switzerland in the Brexit era. The MEDIA programme case study

Abstract

ABSTRACT European film production and distribution is currently regulated and shored up by a great many public policies drawn up by a range of institutions: the European Union (the supra-national level), central governments (the national level) and local governments (the sub-national level). This tripartite hierarchy creates a vertical policy axis in which the European Union plays an especially important role. Not only does the European Union fund areas in which national and local governments are traditionally weak, but it also sets out guidelines which all governments must follow when establishing policies and funds for films. But what would happen if the supra-national level suddenly vanished? Would national policies be capable of replacing European Union action in an effective and efficient way? The article answers this research question through the case study of Switzerland, which in 2014 has been excluded from the MEDIA program (the main European initiative in the audio-visual field) after the results of a national referendum on mass immigration. The analysis of the compensatory measures introduced by the Swiss government for supporting films shows that a single State could successfully replace European initiatives only when these initiatives are not specifically inspired by the subsidiarity principle.