European Parliament resolution on new frontiers in book production: electronic publishing and printing on demand (2000/2037(INI))
Date: 2001-02-01
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: book trade, cultural policy, cultural transmission, electronic publishing, new technology, publication

21.9.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 267/83

Thursday 1 February 2001

(h) withdrawal by the European Union Member States of all reservations expressed in international con-

ventions;

(i)

(j)

consideration of proposals for accelerated extradition and fast track procedures, subject to a mutual
evaluation exercise regarding fulfilment by Member States of their obligations;

full involvement of the applicant countries in the strategy to combat organised crime and in action to
improve judicial assistance in criminal matters and support for regional cooperation against organised
crime;

12.
Supports the legislative initiative taken by the Commission and the Member States to specify, mod-
ernise and give an adequate legal status to instruments, in particular joint actions, adopted as part of the
1997 action plan against organised crime, on the basis of rational, simple and transparent codification
criteria for the benefit of users;

Urges the Member States, pending the harmonisation of criminal

13.
laws and the achievement of
greater compatibility of procedures, to guarantee the greatest possible degree of practical mutual cooper-
ation between judicial authorities;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the parliaments of

14.
the applicant countries and the Council of Europe.

14. New frontiers in book production

A5-0005/2001

European Parliament resolution on new frontiers in book production: electronic publishing and
printing on demand (2000/2037(INI))

The European Parliament,

- having regard to Article 151 of the EC Treaty,

- having regard to its resolution of 7 April 1995 on the establishment of a support programme in the

field of books and reading (Ariane) (1),

- having regard to its resolution of 21 June 1996 on the adoption of a multiannual programme to

promote the linguistic diversity of the Community in the information society (2),

- having regard to its resolution of 30 January 1997 on the first European Commission report on the

consideration of cultural aspects in European Community action (3),

- having regard to its resolution of 13 March 1997 on the information society, culture and education (4),

- having regard to its resolution of 24 October 1997 on the impact of new technologies on the press in

Europe (5),

- having regard to its resolution of 14 May 1998 on the Commission Communication ‘A European

initiative in Electronic Commerce’ (6),

- having regard to its opinion of 9 October 1998 on the proposal for a European Parliament and
Council Decision amending Decision No 2085/97/EC establishing a programme of support, including
translation, in the field of books and reading (Ariane) (7)

(1) OJ C 109, 1.5.1995, p. 289.
(2) OJ C 198, 8.7.1996, p. 248.
(3) OJ C 55, 24.2.1997, p. 37.
(4) OJ C 115, 14.4.1997, p. 151.
(5) OJ C 339, 10.11.1997, p. 415.
(6) OJ C 167, 1.6.1998, p. 203.
(7) OJ C 328, 26.10.1998, p. 237.

C 267/84

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

21.9.2001

Thursday 1 February 2001

- having regard to its resolution of 23 October 1998 on the role of libraries in modern society (1),

- having regard to its resolution of 5 November 1998 on a single financing and programming instru-

ment for cultural cooperation (Culture 2000) programme (2),

- having regard to its resolution of 20 November 1998 on common book price-fixing across borders (3),

- having regard to its resolution of 10 February 1999 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copy-

right and related rights in the Information Society (4),

- having regard to its resolution of 16 December 1999 on the fixing of book prices (5),

- having regard to its resolution of 16 March 2000 on the Commission communication ‘e-Europe -
An Information Society for All’ (6), and the Commission’s e-Europe Action Plan of 20 June 2000,

- having regard to its resolution of 4 May 2000 on the Council common position for adopting a
European Parliament and Council directive on certain legal aspects of Information Society services,
in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (7),

- having regard to the proposal for a Council directive amending Directive 77/388/EEC as regards the
supplied by electronic means

value added tax arrangements applicable to certain services
(COM(2000) 349 final) (8),

- having regard to the work of the Council of Europe in the field of electronic publishing, including the
documents produced in preparation of the Colloquy of Ministers responsible for Cultural Affairs in
Frankfurt on 16-17 October 2000, organised by the Council of Europe in collaboration with the Ger-
man Federal Commissioner for Culture and Media,

- having regard to Rule 163 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport

(A5-0005/2001),

A. whereas linguistic and cultural diversity are essential and valuable features of the European Union,

B. whereas the written word and book production are important vehicles for the expression of such

diversity and the consolidation of knowledge and citizenship,

C. whereas, recognising these facts, the Member States have commonly sought, through protection of
intellectual property rights, preferential tax regimes, regulation of demand, grants for translation,
reduced postal charges for printed matter and so on, to protect the printed word from the untram-
melled operation of the market,

D. whereas the Community has acknowledged that, in the interest of cultural and linguistic diversity,

such treatment is not contrary to Community competition law,

E. whereas the advent of the Internet and electronic publishing makes possible wider and potentially
cheaper access to a larger range of publications than hitherto; whereas electronic publishing and
print-on demand therefore constitute an opportunity rather than a threat; whereas, if this opportunity
is to be exploited to the full, steps must be taken to improve European households’ access to the
Internet,

(1) OJ C 341, 9.11.1998, p. 373.
(2) OJ C 359, 23.11.1998, p. 28.
(3) OJ C 379, 7.12.1998, p. 391.
(4) OJ C 150, 28.5.1999, p. 171.
(5) OJ C 296, 18.10.2000, p. 210.
(6) OJ C 377, 29.12.2000, p. 380.
(7)
(8) OJ C 337 E, 28.11.2000, p. 65.

‘Texts adopted’, Item 1.

21.9.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 267/85

F. whereas the republication of books which are out of print offers authors and thus the public great

opportunities through the use of new technologies,

Thursday 1 February 2001

G. whereas, the various forms of electronic publishing could play an important role in ensuring broad

access to Europe’s classical cultural heritage and to works of reference,

H. whereas, although the printed book remains an indispensable vehicle of culture, the various forms of
electronic publishing could play an important role in maintaining and strengthening cultural and lin-
guistic diversity, promoting reading, and consolidating knowledge and citizenship,

I. whereas the Internet and electronic publishing must operate in such a way as to promote information
and reading among vulnerable population groups (farming regions, young people, disadvantaged
groups) with the aim of overcoming disparities and avoiding the creation of a new class of technolo-
gically illiterate citizens who would join the significant number of people who are illiterate in the
more traditional sense,

J. whereas a European Year of Books and Literacy would help highlight the role of books and electronic
publishing in promoting knowledge and personal development and would enable measures to be
taken against illiteracy,

K. whereas reading is an important skill in the effective use of the new media and the Lisbon Council on

23/24 March 2000 stressed the need to reinforce the fight against illiteracy;

L. whereas, in the interest of social inclusivity, freedom of access, pluralism and cultural diversity, Mem-
ber States have implemented cultural policies to support the printed word; whereas these should be
extended to cover electronic publishing,

M. whereas electronic publications should not be taxed as services, but rather at the same rate at which

non-electronic publications are taxed by the different Member States,

N. whereas the cross-border sale of books via the Internet, especially in cross-border linguistic zones, will

affect national book retail price maintenance mechanisms,

O. whereas the resolution of the Council of Cultural and Audiovisual Affairs Ministers of 23 November
2000 on the application of national fixed book-price systems calls on the Commission, when examin-
ing national rules and agreements on fixed book prices, to pay particular attention to the risk of the
development of evasion and the consequences of the development of e-commerce,

P. whereas the Community is currently seeking to establish a legal framework for copyright and related
rights in the Information Age and for e-commerce; whereas legislative actions and measures taken
within the framework of the ‘new economy’ engendered by the Information Society must be devel-
oped as part of a coherent and co-ordinated policy,

Q. whereas technologies such as watermarking and encryption techniques are being developed to protect

the authenticity of electronic publications, and copyright protection is hence facilitated,

R. whereas the protection of European right-holders is essential to achieving the aim of increasing Euro-
pean content on the web, and all instruments must therefore be used to keep abreast of the USA,

S. whereas, in the case of unavoidable exceptions to authors’ moral rights and copyright in the Informa-

tion Society, authors and publishers should have the right to fair and equitable remuneration,

C 267/86

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

21.9.2001

Thursday 1 February 2001

T. whereas licenses should be promoted which leave the right-holders the choice of how their works
should be exploited and open up the possibility of ‘à la carte’ agreements between users of works
and their right-holders,

U. whereas electronic publishing businesses must be able to take advantage of new licensing models
which both further their commercial success and allow the widest possible access to information by
the citizen,

V. whereas the holders of the rights to a publication in the case of print-on-demand should be the pub-

lisher, the author, or someone licensed by the publisher,

W. whereas the promotion of printing on demand is especially important for books with a limited market

such as academic books and the reproduction of published material,

X. whereas to rise to the challenge of the deposit of electronic publications in national libraries and of
the increased volume of publications due to new technologies, European Publishers and National
Libraries have recently agreed guidelines which encourage voluntary deposit of electronic publications,
access to these being confined, in the absence of special licensing arrangements, to one reader at a
time on the premises of the national library in question,

Underlines the importance of encouraging literary and linguistic creation, maintaining and improving
1.
Europe’s cultural and linguistic diversity, safeguarding universal access to the written and spoken word, and
consolidating knowledge and citizenship;

Calls on the Commission to encourage a large number of small electronic providers of publications
2.
in order to maintain linguistic and cultural diversity and to create a counterweight to the media conglom-
erates;

Believes that the cultural policies of the European Union and the Member States towards the printed
3.
word have hitherto played an important role not only in maintaining such diversity and in safeguarding
access but also as regards cultural creation and innovation;

4.
Calls for such cultural policies to take into account the specific nature of electronic publishing by
making the necessary adjustments to and ensuring coordination with the actions and measures taken as
part of existing and future policies;

5.
Believes that a cultural policy towards electronic publishing should respect the principles of: separa-
tion of the regulatory regime for the provider and infrastructure from that for the content provided; neu-
trality between different means of delivering the same content; proportionality; and the pursuit of general
interest objectives;

6.

Calls on the Commission to propose a legislative framework for e-publishing;

7.
Calls on the Commission to support technological developments to improve authenticity protection
and the rights of right-holders, in particular the right of authors to be informed and cited when their
works are used, in order to take maximum advantage of electronic publishing and the opportunities it
provides;

8.
Calls on the Commission to ensure that this framework respects the freedom of each Member State
in its policy on books and reading to choose whether it wants to adopt a national book price system in
legislative or contractual form;

9.
Calls on the Commission to ensure that this framework is sufficiently flexible with regard to per-
mitted methods of remunerating authors, in order that the greatest variety of books may be published
and to encourage, and adequately finance, emerging authors;

10.
Calls on the Commission to ensure that, when e-publishing is well established within the Union,
funds should be made available to encourage the publishing of e-books in addition to supporting tradi-
tional forms of publishing, and to safeguard a competitive market structure so that the additional costs of
new technologies are not too onerous for small publishers;

21.9.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 267/87

Thursday 1 February 2001

Calls on the Member States to consider applying specific VAT arrangements to publications down-

11.
loaded from the Internet;

12.
Calls on the Member States to ensure that whatever VAT exemptions or reductions are granted to
educational and cultural institutions in respect of the purchase of non-electronic publications are extended
to their purchase of electronic publications;

13.
Calls on the Commission to include in its follow-up programmes to ‘Info 2000’ and ‘Multilingual-
ism in the Information Society’ and in its ‘e-content’ programme measures to foster creative European
content in e-publishing in all languages;

14.
Calls on the Commission to coordinate and stimulate cultural policies to combat illiteracy and func-
tional illiteracy and help create a world of engaged readers at ease with both electronic and paper means of
publication;

15.
Calls on the Commission to designate a ‘European Year of Books and Literacy’ in order to step up
the fight against illiteracy and functional illiteracy and to increase public awareness of the importance of
books and electronic publishing in the knowledge-based economy;

Calls on the Commission to designate, for instance, April 23 the ‘European Day of Reading’ as part
16.
of an ongoing campaign against illiteracy and in order to increase public awareness of the importance of
books and electronic publishing in the knowledge-based economy;

Calls on the Commission and the Member States, as part of education policies, to facilitate access to

17.
reading and encourage young people, who represent the future of the European Union, to read;

18.
Calls on the Commission to ensure that EU vocational training programmes and provisions for EU-
supported training schemes address the need to offer opportunities to workers in the publishing and book-
retailing industries as well as to authors, to adapt their skills to new technologies, while ensuring that
traditional publishing skills and occupations are not forgotten;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the govern-

19.
ments of the Member States.