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The 14 signatory culture ministers believe the EU's cultural diversity and the vulnerable sector in the EU require special treatment lest they be subdued in facing the very dominant EU audiovisual production, Slovenian Culture Minister Uroš Grilc explained.

Culture policies in member states vary and "making culture an exception in this respect is a precondition for speaking of cultural diversity", which is an important added value of Europe in relation to the rest of the world, he noted.

Although the European Commission has said both the EU's and national instruments for the audiovisual and cinema sector would remain untouched, Grilc said it was very important for the ministers to send a clear message of the vulnerability of the sector to any limitation to state support.

In Europe, state support for the sector ensures diversity and higher quality of film production, the minister said.

Grilc explained that Slovenia was forming a strategy for comprehensive support to the sector, which along with film production also included film education programmes, distribution programmes and cinema network development, since Slovenia had problems accessibility of high-quality production.