Friday

29th Mar 2024

EU sex scenes clip stirs controversy

An EU video clip of sex scenes and orgasmic cries in European movies has led to a series of complaints, but Brussels is defending its newest communication tool.

A couple tearing off each others' clothes marks the beginning of the clip which shows 18 different couples making love.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The clip - titled 'Film lovers will love this!' and which ends with the double entendre "Let's come together" – is a video clip made up of sex scenes from European cinema and is one in a series of four made for screening in European cinemas to advertise the EU fund, MEDIA, that helps distribute successful films made in one EU state to others.

It is the most popular video viewed on the European Commission's recently opened YouTube channel – EUtube – with over 120,000 views so far. That is almost 100,000 more viewings than the second most viewed video about EU humanitarian aid.

The clips have been available on the commission website but the EUtube channel launched last Friday (29 June) has created another kind of viewing platform for EU promotional videos.

However, not all are pleased with the way the EU is promoting itself in the 44-second video.

Commission media spokesman Martin Selmayr said there had been a flood of complaints in Polish media about an intimate scene between two men, reports BBC news.

"The European Union is not a bible belt, we believe in freedom of expression and artistic creativity," he said, adding that the lovemaking clips were excerpts from award-winning films, and that the commission was proud of the EU's rich cinematic heritage.

"What can I say? It's a question of taste. It doesn't always have to be about press releases. These clips explain better what the EU is doing," EU communication spokesman Mikolaj Dowgielewicz, whose department is responsible for the EUtube channel, told the Sunday Times.

An earlier version of this article stated that there had been complaints from Poland about this clip. This was incorrect. There have been complaints in Polish media only.

Brussels hits YouTube

The European Commission has jumped on the video-sharing bandwagon by opening a site on the YouTube website to spread its audiovisual messages.

Commissioner defends EU sex video

EU communication commissioner Margot Wallstrom has defended a European Commission video showing a compilation of sex scenes from European films, saying bad press had led to skyrocketing viewer figures.

Opinion

EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania

Among the largest sources of financing for energy transition of central and eastern European countries, the €60bn Modernisation Fund remains far from the public eye. And perhaps that's one reason it is often used for financing fossil gas projects.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us