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The National Council wants to ask foreign television stations and streaming services to pay. They should invest one percent of their income in Switzerland in Swiss cinema.
If the National Council has its way, streaming services like Netflix will also have to back Swiss film productions in the future.
(sda) The Federal Council established a rate of 4 percent. The council followed the motion of Philipp Kutter (cvp., Zurich) with 97 votes to 91 and 3 abstentions. He fears that Switzerland will become more expensive as a location due to the larger editions and that costs from suppliers will be passed on to customers.
Kutter made more moves. In addition to the SRG, licensed and unlicensed regional television stations should also be exempt from the fee. Network operators, through which customers obtain access to films, should also be exempted from the obligation.
Share of European films
The National Council also wants to force providers to fill 30 percent of their film catalog with European films. Christian Wasserfallen (fdp., Bern) tried in vain to revoke the guidelines for providers. They are not effective. The law creates too much bureaucracy for businesses. Also, what consumers can and cannot see should not be written into law.
However, Culture Minister Alain Berset defended the plans. National providers are already obliged to invest. The legislator must guarantee technological neutrality and equal market access for television and online providers. In addition, the quota is also fixed in neighboring countries.
The National Council debated for five hours the cultural message for the years 2021 to 2024. The Federal Council requested a total of 934.5 million francs for cultural funding. In the debate, the political groups basically emphasized the importance of culture. The Corona crisis, in particular, showed how important culture is to people and what is missing if culture is not carried out. Culture is important to the context of a society and enriches the horizon.
A minority led by Diana Gutjahr (svp., Thurgau) wanted to cut the contributions. Ultimately, however, the National Council was even slightly more generous than the Federal Council. By 126 votes to 63 and 3 abstentions, he is in favor of investing 1.2 million Swiss francs in Memoriav, the center of competence for questions relating to analogue or digital audiovisual cultural heritage. It also wants to invest 20 million francs more in building culture than the Federal Council, that is, 123.9 million francs.
The great chamber also increased the amount for the promotion of Romansh by 1.2 million francs. The Federal Council proposes a total of 68.8 million francs for financial aid for languages and comprehension.
The largest financial framework for cinema
In the case of the other contributions, the National Council haggled the amounts, but without making changes. Most of it will go to the film sector, namely CHF 209.1 million. 180.4 million francs have been earmarked for Pro Helvetia.
The financial framework of the Swiss National Museum will increase by 5 million francs to 134.5 million francs and that of Swiss schools abroad by 0.7 million francs per year to 89.5 million francs. 3.1 million Swiss francs have been earmarked for the transfer of cultural property.
The National Council also approved a motion from its Culture Commission that aims to promote language stays for students. The funds provided for this will be increased significantly. The federal government, cantons, and professional associations should create a national digital platform for this.
The Council of States will then discuss this and the cultural message.
