Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the "Proposal for a Council Decision concerning Community participation in the European Audiovisual Observatory"(1)

(1999/C 329/02)

On 5 July 1999 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 157(3) of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 6 September 1999. The rapporteur was Mr Hernández Bataller.

At its 366th plenary session (meeting of 22 September 1999) the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 104 votes to two.

1. Introduction

1.1. The audiovisual industry, especially television broadcasting and cinematographic production, is an economic sector of key strategic importance for Europe. Among the most significant facts, it should be pointed out that:

- the audiovisual sector represents somewhere between 1 and 2 % of Europe's GDP;

- it currently employs some 1.8 million people and is growing by 7 % annually. This growth is exponential, is very important from an economic point of view, and offers major opportunities for business.

1.2. Nevertheless, in Europe the industry is characterised by a multiplicity of fragmented markets; inadequate production and distribution infrastructure; insufficient investment to develop audiovisual projects; in addition, it has to cope with different levels of involvement in decisionmaking by professionals and producers, by creators and managers.

1.2.1. If we compare the situation of this sector in Europe with that in the United States, we see that the US exports ten times more audiovisual products to Europe in terms of market value. According to Eurostat data, the EU's balance of payments deficit with the US in this sector amounted to almost EUR 1600 million in 1995. And, according to estimates by the European Audiovisual Observatory, the EU had a deficit of over EUR 5000 million in its trade in programmes with US in 1997.

1.3. From the European angle, the importance of the audiovisual industry resides not only in the business dimension, but also in its role as a vehicle for promoting our culture and democratic values.

1.3.1. Besides its economic importance, the audiovisual sector is a cultural industry with an inherently "unique" product. In Europe the traditional approach to the audiovisual media has been to try to maintain a balance between:

- on the one hand, the right to freedom of expression and information, which is an intrinsic part of a democratic society;

- on the other, the defence of the general interest, which serves as a justification for protecting minors, combating racism and xenophobia, safeguarding the right to privacy and improving social cohesion.

1.3.2. Thus it may be said that Europe has a social model based on a number of common values, focusing on:

- a deep-seated respect for democracy and human rights;

- respect for the rule of law;

- a balance between the public and private, between economic interest and social responsibility.

1.4. In Europe it has never been thought that the audiovisual sector should be outside the law, that if left to its own devices it would evolve in a natural way, guaranteeing pluralism. In Europe this sector has always been based on two fundamental factors: its unique nature and its social and cultural function.

1.4.1. Accordingly, one of the key elements in all the Member States' audiovisual policies has always been to guarantee not only the media's mission to provide information, but also to stress their role in educating their audience, over and above purely commercial considerations(2).

1.5. EU policy has had two objectives:

- to create a European audiovisual area guaranteeing the free movement of audiovisual services;

- to strengthen and improve the competitiveness of the European audiovisual production industry.

1.6. The Council has recently approved a decision(3) establishing the Community statistical information infrastructure required to frame and apply a Community policy for the industry and markets of the audiovisual and related sectors.

2. The Commission proposal

2.1. The European Audiovisual Observatory was established by the Council of Europe on 15 December 1992 in Strasbourg. Since that meeting, at which the Commission was present, the number of Member States of the Observatory has grown from 29 to 34. Its aims were to improve the transfer of information within the audiovisual industry and to promote a clearer view of the market and greater transparency. More specifically, the task of the Observatory is to collect and process information and statistics on certain branches of the audiovisual sector (namely, legal, economic and programme information).

2.1.1. Initially the Observatory was established for a pilot phase and then after three years an evaluation of its operation was carried out. Thus on 20 March 1997 the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution confirming the continuation of the Observatory. The new statute appended to the resolution confirmed the aims of the Observatory, whose services were to be directed mainly at catering for the needs of professionals in the industry. They explicitly exclude any standard-setting or regulatory activities.

2.1.2. The Commission ran a series of pilot activities on a framework for priority actions in the field of statistical information(4). It was specified that the audiovisual industry is regarded as one of the priority service sectors at Community level and provision was made for the establishment of a new information system based on the "enterprise" approach and functional statistics.

2.1.3. There is a consensus that the activities of Eurostat and the Observatory are complementary and strengthen each other since:

- Eurostat's primary preoccupation is to meet the statistical needs of its users, namely the Commission and other Community institutions, governments of Member States, operators on the internal market and the public at large;

- the Observatory's mission, while specifically excluding standard-setting or regulatory activities, is focused on providing functional information, i.e. information pertinent to the operative needs of companies and professionals. Its officially recognised target groups are professionals of various categories, with governments and public authorities taking last priority; this is because detailed market information needed by operators in the field falls naturally within its competence.

2.2. The Commission's aim in putting forward this proposal is to establish a legal basis for the Community's contribution to, and participation in, the Observatory, taking into account the European Court of Justice's decision of 12 May 1998 (case C 106/96) on legal bases.

2.2.1. The Community contribution to the Observatory represents 12.25 % of the total budget. The remainder of the budget is contributed by the Member States of the Council of Europe which are also members of the Observatory, according to the weighting applied for Eureka Audiovisual(5).

3. General comments

3.1. The Committee supports the Commission proposal as it will help to boost the competitiveness of Europe's audiovisual sector by improving the transfer of economic and legal information, providing a clearer picture of the market, encouraging transparency and investment in infrastructure.

In short, the Committee considers that adoption of the proposal will help to strengthen the European audiovisual industry.

3.1.1. Furthermore, the proposal will not increase the burden on firms, nor will it mean additional statistical work for the various institutions and administrations.

3.2. The Committee shares the Commission's point of view given that this measure:

- will help to provide data enabling comparisons to be made between the Observatory's Members; such data are of great interest to the audiovisual industry, the Community institutions, governments, economic and social decision-makers, research institutes, media users, universities and the media themselves;

- is complementary to the Community instruments for the establishment of a Community statistical information infrastructure on the industry and markets of the audiovisual and related sectors. The compilation of statistical information by the Community on the audiovisual sector should be different from the statistical analyses carried out by the European Audiovisual Observatory.

3.2.1. The Committee reiterates(6) that access to information implies the accessibility of archives and registers, equal participation by all operators and the public obligation to protect freedom of access. Furthermore, access to and use of the Observatory's data should be affordable and based on the costs of printing, updating, retrieving and transmitting the data.

3.3. The Committee considers it important for Community industry and users to have reliable and up-to-date information; this is essential for monitoring, evaluating and drawing up Community programmes.

3.4. At all events, the statistics which are compiled should be based on the principles of impartiality, reliability, relevance, cost/benefit, statistical secrecy for individuals and transparency.

3.5. The Community should evaluate the importance of the audiovisual sector and future requirements for statistics on this sector, especially the data needed to deepen the social dimension of the Union, i.e. to develop and monitor employment, training and equal opportunities policy.

3.6. The Committee would reiterate its analysis highlighting the strategic importance of the audiovisual sector in the EU(7) and its impact on job creation. The rapid advance of the audiovisual industries and sectors throughout the world make it even more important and strategic to have a better statistical knowledge of these sectors.

3.7. The Committee hopes that the Commission (a) promotes an audiovisual policy which guarantees genuine European added value by launching Community programmes and actions in the audiovisual sphere, especially the Media III programme, and (b) ensures in general that Community law is respected and applied, in particular through the proper application of the Treaty of Amsterdam's Protocol on the system of public broadcasting in the Member States.

3.8. The Committee reiterates(8)that, if more practical action is to be taken in the cultural sphere to defend and promote the "European cultural identity" and endow it with a political dimension, it is necessary to raise awareness among users and provide them with information, as well as serving the industry and Member States. Hence the Commission should set up a "European Information Society Agency" which would also help to coordinate the various initiatives in the area of multimedia convergence(9).

Brussels, 22 September 1999.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Beatrice RANGONI MACHIAVELLI

(1) OJ C 110 of 21.4.1999, p. 14.

(2) OJ C 301 of 13.11.1995, p. 35. ESC Opinion on the Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive amending Council Directive 89/522/EEC on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities.

(3) OJ L 117 of 5.5.1999, p. 39. Council Decision of 26 April 1999 establishing a Community statistical information structure relating to the industry and markets of the audiovisual and related sectors.

(4) OJ L 19 of 18.8.1993. Council Decision 93/464/EEC.

(5) See appendix.

(6) OJ C 169 of 16.6.1999, p. 30. ESC Opinion on Public sector information: a key resource for Europe - Green Paper on public sector information in the information society.

(7) OJ C 204 of 15.6.1996, p. 5. ESC Opinion on the Proposal for a Council Decision establishing a European Guarantee Fund to promote cinema and television production.

(8) OJ C 256 of 2.10.1995, p. 24. ESC Opinion on the Proposal for a Council Decision on the implementation of a training programme for professionals in the European audiovisual programme industry (Media II - Training) and the Proposal for a Council decision on a programme to promote the development and distribution of European audiovisual works (Media II - Development and Distribution) (1996-2000).

(9) Convergence may be defined as the point at which communication, technology and the media intersect.

APPENDIX

to the Opinion of the Economic and Social Comittee

Contributions to the budget of the Audiovisual Observatory

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