Brussels, 19/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - Tempers have flared between Paris and Brussels since the exclusion of audiovisual services from the European Commission's negotiating mandate - an exclusion obtained by France.
The Commission is not swallowing easily the exclusion of audiovisual services from the mandate it was given last week to negotiate a transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP) agreement. As well as the slip by Commission President José Manuel Barroso, who described supporters of the cultural exception as “reactionary”, the staff of European Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht continue to feed the polemic by assuring that this exclusion is not definitive. “A passage in the text leaves the possibility of discussing all other subjects of common interest with our American partners. If they come with a proposal [on the audiovisual sector] the Commission has the obligation to submit it” to the member states, implied De Gucht's spokesperson on Tuesday 18 June. He said that the overriding rule will then be that of consensus.
On the French side, things are interpreted differently. “If ever there was a return to this because the Americans were asking for it (…) it would be necessary to come back to the [EU member] states to amend the draft mandate and this would be the same rule - in other words, unanimity. And France will once again say 'no'”, said France's Minister for Trade Nicole Bricq the previous day. This position is contested. “The need for unanimity does not appear in the text of the agreement on the mandate”, a European source close to the file said on Monday, quoted by French news agency AFP. France “will have to show a serious threat to culture”, the source said (our translation throughout). (EH/transl.fl)