Commission proposes extending MEDIA and Culture 2000 programmes until 2006 

The MEDIA (Plus and Training) and Culture 2000 programmes expire at the end of 2005 and 2004, respectively. MEDIA Plus and MEDIA Training provide support for audiovisual creativity and the audiovisual industry in Europe, while Culture 2000 promotes collaborative cultural projects.

The proposal would boost the programmes' respective budgets as follows:

• MEDIA Plus: from 350 million euro to 435.6 million euro (2001-2006)
• MEDIA Training: from 50 million euro to 57.4 million euro (2001-2006)
• Culture 2000: from 167 million euro (2000-2004) to 236.5 million euro (2001-2006).

According to the Commission, the proposed extensions "will not prevent the Commission, the European Parliament or the Council from continuing to explore innovative approaches within the present generation of programmes".