The creation of a book voucher and the expansion of benefits for film productions are two measures approved this Thursday by the Council of Ministers for Culture, and which should be the last before the government enters into administration.
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, is expected to formalize his resignation from the government this Thursday evening, which will be limited to the actions of the leadership, with legislative elections scheduled for March 2024.
In the Council of Ministers, the government approved this Thursday a decree-law that extends the Fund for the Support of Tourism and Cinema (FATC) until 2026; extension, which was announced in February.
In a statement, the government explains that the decision is due to the “positive impact on the development of tourism, international film production and the development of cinematographic and audiovisual production in Portugal.”
FATC was created in 2018 with mechanisms to encourage filming in Portugal, such as the film Fast and Furious 10 and the TV series Fishtail, and had demand exceeding available financial capacity.
Last February, the government announced it would maintain the FATC stimulus regime until the end of 2026, but wants to make changes to the rules for accessing the fund this year.
The 2024 state budget proposal, approved at the end of November, provides for FATC to have 14 million euros and also contains an addition to the Film Law including “a financial incentive for large-scale cinematographic and audiovisual productions.” return support scheme” with a maximum amount of 20 million euros per year.
The Council of Ministers also approved this Thursday the introduction of a book voucher, which will be financed through the Cultural Development Fund.
In November, at a parliamentary hearing, Culture Minister Pedro Adán e Silva said that the measure would be allocated 4.4 million euros and would create a platform to implement the distribution of book vouchers through bookstores.
The book voucher is a measure proposed by the Portuguese Association of Editors and Booksellers, which advocated giving 100 euros to 18-year-olds to buy books, but the government decided to set the amount at 20 euros and capped the benefit at around 200,000 people.
The Executive Branch also approved the transfer of funds from the Cultural Development Fund to the Casa de Serralves, Casa da Música and Centrocultural de Belém (CCB) funds.
According to the state budget maps for 2024, available on the General Directorate of Budget page, a transfer of 4.6 million euros to the Fundação Casa de Serralves, 10 million euros to the Casa da Música and 11.5 million euros to the CCB is recorded. .
The Council of Ministers also approved a decree-law revising the responsibilities of “certain specialized departments of the National Council of Culture” in connection with the creation of two new organizations in the field of museums and heritage: the state enterprise Museus e Monumentos. de Portugal and the Public Institute Patrimóniocultural.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Sandra Hansen, a news website Author and Reporter for 24 News Reporters. I have over 7 years of experience in the journalism field, with an extensive background in politics and political science. My passion is to tell stories that are important to people around the globe and to engage readers with compelling content.