European directors are uniting to defend "European culture". In the context of the European Film Forum organised by the European Commission on Monday 19 February in a backdrop to the Berlinale Film Festival, they published an open letter that has so far received the support of around 200 signatories from 24 countries (including 21 member states).
The document is co-signed by Ken Loach, the Dardenne brothers and Costa-Gavras and takes a position on the major European reforms currently being implemented. Therefore, with regard to the reflections on the draft directive on copyright, it calls for a, "European mechanism guaranteeing authors fair remuneration for the requested use of their content throughout Europe". On the draft directive on audiovisual media services currently being negotiated by the three institutions, the signatories call for the application of the principles of the country of destination (the rules applicable to those of the country where the broadcast takes place) and territoriality (the rights must be acquired by the territory in question). They are also requesting that the 30% rate of European content in digital platforms’ catalogues is interpreted as a benchmark.
At a broader level, the open letter also calls for "fair European (and global) taxation" as part of the OECD debates on taxing the Internet giants, in addition to strengthening the Media programme as part of the next multi-annual financial framework. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)