Resumen de France: : regional aid to the cinema under threat?
On 3 April 2014, the administrative court in Lyon delivered a judgment which, beyond its local consequences, �threatens the entire system of aid to the cinema from the regions�, according to the President of the Rhône-Alpes Region. In the present case, a member of the Regional Council applied to the administrative court for cancellation of the Council�s decision renewing for 2011-2015 the Region�s subsidy to Rhône-Alpes Cinéma; its co-production structure. It is the leading regional structure providing aid to the cinema in France, with a catalogue of 220 titles including Tony Gatlif�s latest film, �Geronimo�, presented this year in competition at the Cannes Festival. In application of the convention approved by the contested deliberation, the Rhônes-Alpes Region is paying a subsidy of 2 million EUR to Rhône-Alpes Cinéma to be invested in films, as well as an additional contribution from the Centre national de la cinématographie et de l'image animée (National Centre of Cinematography - CNC) of a global annual amount of one million euros. In support of its application, the complainant claimed in particular that since the subsidy constituted State aid as construed by European Union law, the disputed deliberation disregarded the rules governing economic aid arising out the EU Treaty which are incorporated in the General Code on Local Authorities.
