Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Proposal for a Council Decision concerning Community participation in the European Audiovisual Observatory'
Date: 1999-09-22
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: European audiovisual area, audiovisual industry, competitiveness, film production, industrial development

C 329/6

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Official Journal of the European Communities

17.11.1999

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 Herna´ndez 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 broad-
is an economic
casting and cinematographic production,
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;
to
investment
it has to cope
develop audiovisual projects;
with different levels of involvement in decisionmaking by
professionals and producers, by creators and managers.

insufficient
in addition,

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 1 600 million in 1995. And, according to estimates by
the European Audiovisual Observatory, the EU had a deficit of
over EUR 5 000 million in its trade in programmes with US in
1997.

From the European angle,

1.3.
the
audiovisual industry resides not only in the business dimen-
sion, but also in its role as a vehicle for promoting our culture
and democratic values.

the importance of

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

Besides its economic importance, the audiovisual
1.3.1.
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.
based on a number of common values, focusing on:

Thus it may be said that Europe has a social model

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

— respect for the rule of law;

— a balance between the public and private, between econ-

omic interest and social responsibility.

1.4.
In Europe it has never been thought that the audiovis-
ual 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
its unique nature and its social and
fundamental factors:
cultural function.

1.4.1.
Accordingly, one of the key elements in all the
Member States’ audiovisual policies has always been to guaran-
tee 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).

(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.

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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.

The Council has recently approved a decision (1) estab-
1.6.
lishing 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 estab-
lished 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 (2). 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 perti-
to the operative needs of companies and pro-
nent
fessionals. Its officially recognised target groups are pro-
fessionals 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 (3).

3. General comments

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

the Committee considers that adoption of

the
In short,
proposal will help to strengthen the European audiovisual
industry.

Furthermore,

increase the
3.1.1.
burden on firms, nor will it mean additional statistical work
for the various institutions and administrations.

the proposal will not

The Committee shares the Commission’s point of view

3.2.
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 audiovis-
ual 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.

(1) 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.

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

(3) See appendix.

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The Committee reiterates (1) that access to infor-
3.2.1.
mation 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 trans-
parency.

The Community should evaluate the importance of the
3.5.
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 employ-
ment, training and equal opportunities policy.

(1) 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.

Brussels, 22 September 1999.

3.6.
The Committee would reiterate its analysis highlighting
the strategic importance of the audiovisual sector in the EU(2)
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) pro-
motes an audiovisual policy which guarantees genuine Euro-
pean 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.

The Committee reiterates (3)that,

3.8.
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 (4).

(2) 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.

(3) OJ C 256 of 2.10.1995, p. 24. ESC Opinion on the Proposal for
a Council Decision on the implementation of a training pro-
gramme 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 — Develop-
ment and Distribution) (1996-2000).

(4) Convergence may be defined as the point at which communi-

cation, technology and the media intersect.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Beatrice RANGONI MACHIAVELLI

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APPENDIX

to the Opinion of the Economic and Social Comittee

Contributions to the budget of the Audiovisual Observatory

Cyprus

Estonia

0,049975 Ireland

0,249875 Belgium

0,049975 Romania

0,249875 Switzerland

Former Republic of Yugoslavia

0,049975 Slovak Republic

0,349825 Sweden

Iceland

Latvia

0,049975 Poland

0,49975

Netherlands

0,049975 Czech Republic

0,649675 Spain

Liechtenstein

0,049975 Finland

0,9995

Germany

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Malta

Slovenia

Bulgaria

Hungary

0,049975 Greece

0,9995

France

0,049975 Norway

0,9995

Italy

0,049975 Portugal

0,9995

Russia

0,09995

Turkey

0,9995

United Kingdom

12,243878

0,249875 Austria

1,49925

European Commission

12,243878

0,249875 Denmark

1,49925

2,248876

2,248876

2,498751

2,998501

5,497251

12,243878

12,243878

12,243878

12,243878