Brussels, 14/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - MEPs from the European Parliament Education and Culture Committee called on the Luxembourg Presidency to optimise attention on the impact of the European Commission's digital single market projects on the culture sector if proposals are presented by the end of the year, particularly with regard to the portability of content and copyright.
Several questions were raised in this sense during the hearing of the Luxembourg ministers Maggy Nagel (Culture) and Claude Meisch (Higher Education and Research), who came to put forward their priorities for action in their respective areas, to the Parliamentary committee on Tuesday 14 July (see EUROPE 11354). It should be pointed out that the Commission presented its digital single market strategy on 6 May (see EUROPE 11309) and announced that proposals on the different initiatives would be presented by the end of 2016. Copyright revision, in particular, is expected to take place by the end of this year, which will therefore still be under the Luxembourg Presidency.
In its priorities, the Luxembourg Minister for Culture, Maggy Nagel, sought to highlight the external dimension of culture and cultural diplomacy. She was also eager to look at the role of culture in relation to development cooperation. She emphasised that proposals on the digital single market would have an impact on the culture sector and said that she supported the portability of content as a means to promote the circulation of culture. In the area of copyright, she will soon examine the Commission proposals and see whether they should be presented over the next six months. With regard to the role of online platforms that the Commission is expected to examine before the end of this year, the Luxembourg Presidency “is awaiting with interest” the Commission initiatives in this connection.
The Education Minister, Claude Meisch, highlighted the need for a quality education for all young people. The Luxembourg Presidency will also look at the Commission proposals on the 2015 joint progress report on the “Education and Training 2020” (ET 2020), as well as the progress made by member states to reduce early school leaving. Particular emphasis will be placed on the promotion of multilingualism. In the area of youth policy, the Luxembourg Presidency is seeking to examine the progress made in the context of European cooperation in youth affairs for the 2010-18 period, which is undergoing a mid-term review, and explore the synergies needed for developing the participation of young people in the field of active citizenship. The Luxembourg Presidency will also examine the wellbeing of young people and opportunities for youth in the digital era.
In their questions, several MEPs referred to the impact of the single digital market proposals on the cultural sector. Sabine Verheyen (EPP, Germany) said that they needed to carefully examine these proposals and not just look at the economic aspect of these measures. Petra Kammerevert (S&D, Germany) and Helga Trüpel (Greens/EFA, Germany) said that the questions of geo-blocking and content portability are very important. They also warned against the damages that would be caused by pan-European licences for cultural diversity. The Luxembourg presidency's priority on multilingualism also raised a lot of interest among MEPs. Petra Kammerevert as well as Jill Evans (Greens/EFA, United Kingdom), asked whether, in this context, the Luxembourg Presidency would seek to develop ties with regional governments (for example, the Welsh government). The Chairperson of the CULT Committee, Silvia Costa (S&D, Italy) was concerned about the decline in language learning, despite the fact that the Commission is recommending that member states facilitate the teaching of two foreign languages together with that of the mother tongue. This MEP deplored the fact that this objective was far from being a reality in the EU member states. (Isabelle Lamberty)