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Europe 'Splashing the Cash' on Vanity Projects

© Flickr / Katie MollonVideo game joypads
Video game joypads - Sputnik International
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The European Union is spending millions of dollars funding vanity projects, while some of its member countries - such as Greece, Spain and Italy - are enduring harsh austerity measures Sputnik has been told.

The European Commission has paid $3.6 million to fund video game development, including a combat-based game called Arena World and one called Party Tennis: Euro Tour, a multiplayer tennis simulator.

According to the UK-based TaxPayers Alliance, "despite the myriad problems across the continent, it seems that the European Union's wasteful spending continues apace. More than $3.6 million has been given in grants to video game productions. These subsidies are unacceptable."

One game, called Ship Emergency Simulator invites players to play the role of a maritime officer or engineer co-operating to prevent a major disaster at sea. Another, with the working title CreateWorld is a "suite of connected mobile apps filled with interactive toys, games and missions, and conceived with the purpose of gamifying creative play for 6-12 year olds. The apps provide an anarchic world where kids are free to express themselves, and each action they take has a creative outcome."

'Taxpayers Will Be Furious'

Jonathan Isaby, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, told Sputnik: "Taxpayers will be furious that Brussels bureaucrats seem to have no regard for the value of taxpayers' money.

"At a time when there are serious issues across the continent, the EU's focus should be on solving real-life problems rather than splashing the cash on made-up ones. Those responsible for approving this spending must be held accountable."

According to the European Commission, Creative Europe is a program for support to the culture and audiovisual sectors, with a budget of $2.2 billion.

Under the program, a financial guarantee facility of up to $842 million (€750m) for small businesses active in the sector will also be established in 2016.

The program is not just limited to EU member states. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Georgia, Iceland, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia and Turkey can all have access to the EU funds.

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