CELEX: 51990PC0582
Language: en
Date: 1991-01-11
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DECISION CONCERNING THE ACCESSION OF THE MEMBER STATES TO THE BERNE CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF LITERARY AND ARTISTIC WORKS, AS REVISED BY THE PARIS ACT OF 24 JULY 1971, AND THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF PERFORMERS, PRODUCERS OF PHONOGRAMS AND BROADCASTING ORGANISATIONS ( ROME CONVENTION ) OF 26 OCTOBER 1961

31. 1. 91                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                No C 24/5
             Proposal for a Council Decision concerning the accession of the Member States to the Berne
             Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, as revised by the Paris Act of
             24 July 1971, and the International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers
               of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations (Rome Convention) of 26 October 1961
                                              COM(90) 582 final — SYN 318
                                   (Submitted by the Commission on 11 December 1990)
                                                        (91/C 24/04)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                         representatives of the Governments of the Member States
                                                                 of 24 July 1984 on measures to combat audio-visual
                                                                piracy 0 ;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community, and in particular Articles 57 (2),          Whereas the accession of all the Member States to the
66, 100a and 113 thereof,                                        Berne Convention (Paris Act) and the International
                                                                 Rome Convention will provide a common basis for
                                                                 harmonization on which to pursue more easily the
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,               construction of the Community edifice as regards
                                                                 copyright and neighbouring rights;
In cooperation with the European Parliament,                    Whereas owing to the internationalization of the
                                                                 problems connected with copyright and neighbouring
                                                                 rights, it is necessary to seek to provide better protection
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                 of those rights at the international level; whereas the
Social Committee,                                                accession of all the Member States to the Berne
                                                                 Convention (Paris Act) and the International Rome
                                                                 Convention is likely to encourage other States to accede
Whereas the Berne Convention (Paris Act) and the Inter-          thereto; whereas this Decision fits fully into the wider
national Rome Convention guarantee a minimum level               pattern of measures taken by other international organ-
of protection for authors and for performers, producers          izations, in particular W I P O , GATT and the Council of
of    phonograms      and     broadcasting     organizations     Europe;
respectively; whereas, owing to their content, these
conventions enjoy broad international support;                   Whereas the subject matter of the Berne Convention
                                                                 (Paris Act) and the International Rome Convention falls
                                                                 within the competence of the Community; whereas at
Whereas 10 Member States are already parties to the              present the accession of the Community as such to these
Berne Convention, as revised by the Paris Act, the other         instruments is not possible without a prior modification
two being bound still by the Brussels Act of 26 June             allowing the accession of international organizations as
 1948; whereas only a majority of Member States have             such; whereas in view of developments at Community
acceded to the International Rome Convention                     level, the Community as such could be in a position to
concerning 'neighbouring rights';                                adhere to the Berne Convention (Paris Act) and the
                                                                 International Rome Convention; whereas the present
                                                                 Decision is without prejudice to any such accession for
Whereas the differences between national laws as regards         which, in due time, appropriate proposals will be
the minimum level of protection of copyright guaranteed          submitted to the Council; whereas in the meantime it is
by the Paris Act and the conferment of rights on                  appropriate that the Council decide that Member States
performers, producers of phonograms and broadcasting              adhere to the said conventions;
 organizations create obstacles to the free movement of
 goods and services and distortions of competition                Whereas a date must be set by which all the Member
 prejudicial to the economic and cultural interests of            States should be parties to the Berne Convention (Paris
 creators, authors, artists and the enterprises concerned;        Act) and the International Rome Convention; whereas
 whereas this state of affairs is incompatible with the           since legislation will be needed in some Member States,
 establishment and functioning of the internal market as          that date should be 31 December 1992, the deadline for
 an area without internal frontiers in which the free             completion of the internal market,
 movement of goods, persons, services and capital is
 ensured, as provided for in Article 8a of the Treaty;            HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
                                                                                            Article 1
 Whereas the accession of all the Member States to the
                                                                  The Member States shall, by 31 December 1992,
 Berne Convention (Paris Act) and the International
                                                                  ratify or accede to and comply with the Berne
 Rome Convention is capable of making a significant
 contribution to the campaign against the pirating of
 audio-visual works, as is clear from the resolution of the       (') OJ No C 204, 3. 8. 1984, p. 1.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 24/6                             Official Journal of the European Communities                             31. 1.91
Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic          26 October 1961.
Works, as revised by the Paris Act of 24 July 1971,
and the International Convention for the Protection of                                   Article 2
Performers,      Producers     of     Phonograms       and
Broadcasting Organizations (Rome Convention) of                 This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
             Proposal for a Council Decision amending Decision 89/657/EEC establishing an action
             programme to promote innovation in the field of vocational training resulting from techno-
             logical change in the Community (Eurotecnet) and Decision 90/267/EEC establishing an action
             programme for the development of continuing vocational training in the European Community
             (Force) in order to establish the Advisory Committee for continuing education and training
                                              embracing Force and Eurotecnet
                                                    COM(90) 648 final
                                   (Submitted by the Commission on 21 December 1990)
                                                       (91/C 24/05)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                        to adapt and enlarge the terms of reference of the
                                                                aforesaid committee;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
                                                                Whereas the establishment of the Advisory Committee
Economic Community, and in particular Article 128
                                                                for continuing education and training will render
thereof,
                                                                unnecessary the continued existence of the separate
                                                                committees assisting the Commission in implementing
                                                                the Eurotecnet and Force programmes; whereas the
Having regard to the proposal of the Commission,                Decisions establishing these programmes should be
                                                                amended accordingly,
Having regard      to  the   opinion   of   the  European       HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Parliament,
                                                                                        Article 1
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,                                               1.    In the implementation of the Force and Eurotecnet
                                                                programmes the Commission shall be assisted by a
                                                                committee of an advisory nature composed of two repre-
                                                                sentatives from each Member State and chaired by the
Whereas Article 10 of Decision 89/657/EEC (») estab-            representative of the Commission.
lished an advisory committee to assist the Commission in
the implementation of that Decision;
                                                                The members of the committee may be assisted by
                                                                experts or advisors.
Whereas Article 10 of Decision 90/267/EEC (2) estab-
lished an advisory committee to assist the Commission in
                                                                Twelve representatives of both sides of industry,
the implementation of that Decision;
                                                                appointed by the Commission on the basis of proposals
                                                                from the organizations representing both sides of
                                                                industry at Community level, shall participate in the
Whereas in its memorandum on the rationalization       and      work of the committee as observers.
coordination of vocational training programmes            at
Community level, the Commission announced                its
intention to regroup related activities within          the     2. The representative of the Commission shall submit to
framework of the Force Advisory Committee,             and      the committee a draft of the measures concerning:
C) OJ No L 393, 30. 12. 1989, p. 29.                            (a) the general guidelines governing the Force and
O OJ No L 156, 21. 6. 1990, p. 1.                                   Eurotecnet programmes;