Conclusions of the Council and of the representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council of 26 June 2000 concerning the communication from the Commission on principles and guidelines for the Community's audiovisual policy in the digital age
Date: 2000-06-26
Institutions: Council of the European Union, Representatives of the Governments of the Member States
Subjects: European audiovisual area, audiovisual communications policy, new technology

12.7.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 196/1

I

(Information)

COUNCIL

CONCLUSIONS OF THE COUNCIL AND OF THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS
OF THE MEMBER STATES, MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL

of 26 June 2000

concerning the communication from the Commission on principles and guidelines for the
Community’s audiovisual policy in the digital age

(2000/C 196/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER

STATES, MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL,

1. RECALLING the Council conclusions of 22 April 1999 and
28 June 1999 on the results of the public consultation on
the Green Paper on Convergence;

is

ciples
approached from different angles;

infrastructure

that

and content

should be

8. AWARE THAT another key message on general regulatory
regulation should aim to be tech-

is

principles
that
nologically neutral;

2. RECALLING the resolution of the Council and the Represen-
tatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting
within the Council, of 25 January 1999 concerning public
service broadcasting;

9. CONVINCED OF the continued importance of

the dual
system of broadcasting in Europe in the new digital audio-
visual landscape and stressing the need for public service
broadcasters to take advantage of
the new information
technologies;

3. RECALLING the importance of the e-Europe initiative and
the conclusions of the special European Council held in
Lisbon on 23 and 24 March 2000;

4. AWARE THAT in its communication on principles and
guidelines for the Community’s audiovisual policy in the
digital age the Commission sets out a series of regulatory
principles
the
for
critical
Community’s strategy for the digital age;

importance

defining

of

10. STRESS that content regulation, which is undertaken in
pursuit of general interest objectives, such as freedom of
expression, pluralism, cultural diversity and consumer
protection, should be based upon key principles such as
proportionality, recognition of the role of public-service
broadcasting and, where appropriate, self-regulation as a
to State regulation and the inde-
useful complement
and that
pendence of
these
regulatory
objectives may be taken into account
in the Member
States’ assignment of
frequencies to the various broad-
casting service operators;

authorities,

5. THAKING NOTE THAT Europe is on the threshold of a new
broadcasting and communications era, and that the tran-
sition from analogue to digital broadcasting is a key step in
this process, as emphasised at the Conference on Digital
Terrestrial Television held in Lisbon on 17 and 18 February
2000;

6. BEARING IN MIND other major reviews of Community
the
for
and the

policy,
communication on the development of
digital
television in the European Union,
Commission’s proposals for the Media Plus programme;

including the 1999 communications review,
the market

7.

IN VIEW OF the specific nature of the audiovisual sector,
and noting that the central factor with regulatory prin-

11. STRESS that

in ensuring access

exclusion and will

the transition from analogue to digital
television is a key factor
to the
Information Society and in the battle against social and
cultural
concerted action
between public authorities, operators, content and service
providers and consumer organisations and clear signals
the
concerning
the
considerations which will
Member States on the timetable for the transition;

inform the decisions of

framework

regulatory

require

and

the

12. STRESS that, in the public interest, access to infrastructure
and to certain types of content should be guaranteed
through appropriate means, taking into account market
development; and that, with regard to infrastructure and
the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting, open
access and interoperability should be promoted;

C 196/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

12.7.2000

13. STRESS that, whereas it is the responsibility of Member
States to define national content regulation and to take
decisions on key issues such as the timetable for the
switch-off of analogue terrestrial transmissions, European
cooperation is also essential, especially in terms of
spectrum-planning,
including frequency coordination and
information exchange;

17.

INVITE THE COMMISSION, on the basis of its Communi-
cation, to:

(a) undertake further studies into the impact of digital
television on the Information Society, employment
and economic growth in Europe;

14. STRESS, once again,

the key importance of European
content and, as a consequence, the need to uphold and
foster support measures, while bearing in mind the need to
promote complementarity and synergy between national
and community measures
the need to
safeguard cultural diversity;

as well

as

15. RECOGNISE

the

exploiting new and
emerging technologies for the creation and circulation of
European audiovisual content;

importance of

16. TAKE NOTE of, and commend, the ample consideration that
the Communication accords to the principles of cultural
and linguistic diversity and underline the need to remain
constantly aware of the objective of promoting these prin-
ciples in Europe in a complex and rapidly changing tech-
nological environment;

(b) identify

and promote measures

the
competitiveness of the European content industry in
inter alia, promoting synergy
the digital age, while,
between the relevant Community instruments;

to enhance

(c) promote initiatives

to combat

social and cultural

exclusion in this context;

(d) promote initiatives designed to foster European coop-
eration and exchange of experience on the transition
from analogue to digital television;

(e) monitor carefully questions of access

to content,
including the development of electronic programmes
guides;

(f) provide further analysis and information on how to
promote cultural and linguistic diversity in the new
digital environment within the Community.