Observatory commissions major economic study of impact of fiscal incentives in Europe for film

The European Audiovisual Observatory (Observatory) has commissioned creative industries strategy consultancy Olsberg•SPI to undertake an economic impact analysis of the European fiscal incentives landscape. This project has been made possible by extra funding provided by the Finnish ministry of education and culture. This organisation represents Finland in the Observatory's Executive Council which brings together its 40 member countries plus the European Commission. Olsberg•SPI will take charge of this report, leading a team including the UK's Landman Economics, and will assess the range of economic impacts created by a select number of European schemes, as well as assessing the advantages and disadvantages of different types of incentive structures.

An important aspect of the work will be evaluating the impact of fiscal incentives on attracting foreign investment, both from Europe and the rest of the world, as well as impacts on areas such as state budget, effects on the national audiovisual industry, employment and so on. It will also look at how schemes tie in to wider economic and film policy. The Observatory decided to launch the study in response to significant interest in the issue of production incentives from a range of parties. Due to be published in late 2014, the study comes at a time of increasing global competition for production, with incentive schemes created to help attract film and television shoots and the range of economic and other benefits they can bring.

A part of the Council of Europe and hence a public service organisation, the Observatory collects and distributes information about Europe's audiovisual industries, aiming at promoting greater transparency and a clearer understanding of the ways in which the audiovisual industries in Europe function, both from an economic and legal point of view. "With this assessment the European Audiovisual Observatory is aiming to deepen the understanding across Europe of the use of incentives and the impact they can have on both inward investment and indigenous production," said Observatory Executive Director Susanne Nikoltchev.

Olsberg•SPI Chairman Jonathan Olsberg commented: "We have worked extensively in the fiscal incentives arena before but this study aims to provide a new depth of knowledge about how European incentives can be most impactful. We look forward to consulting closely with the industry and policy-makers for this evaluation, and invite those interested in providing input to contact our team."

Members of the Olsberg•SPI team, including Chairman Jonathan Olsberg, Associate Director Andrew Barnes and Research Associate Leon Forde will be attending the forthcoming Berlin Film Festival from 6-12 February to conduct consultations.

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