Minister of State for Culture Bernd Neumann presents the EU Presidency's programme to the Culture Committee of the European Parliament - Main contents
In Brussels today, Bernd Neumann - Germany's Minister of State for Culture and current President of the Education, Youth and Culture (EYC) Council - presented the German Presidency's cultural and media policy priorities to the European Parliament's Committee on Culture and Education: the revision of the "TV without Frontiers" (TVWF) Directive, the promotion of the cultural economy, and the strengthening of European commitment to the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity through its ratification by all Member States.
"The new TVWF Directive will create a framework that can keep up with the rapid pace of change in technologies and markets. Parliament, Commission and Council are already agreed on many points. The Parliament and the Council have approved the regulatory architecture proposed by the Commission: A technology-neutral approach combined with different levels of regulation for linear and non-linear services. The Council and the Parliament support the country of origin principle as a key element in the directive. And compromise seems achievable on product placement. The TVWF Directive will be on the agenda at both the Informal Ministerial Meeting in Berlin in February and the Education, Youth and Culture (EYC) Council in Brussels in May. I am confident that we shall succeed in reaching agreement in 2007" said the Minister:
Moving on to the cultural economy, Bernd Neumann said: "For Europe, the cultural economy represents a growth market and a competitive advantage. Our goal is to bring the cultural economy into clearer focus and then draw the necessary conclusions." In closing, he emphasized the great importance of all EU Member States ratifying the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity, so that Europe can exert all its voting strength now that the time has come to give life to the Convention.
Date: 31.01.2007