Negotiators from the European Parliament and the EU Council left late Monday evening, 26 November, without reaching any real compromise on copyright reform (see EUROPE 12100). Technical meetings had resumed the next day, for the purpose of a fourth trilogue on 3 December and a final trilogue (ideally, of course) on 13 December.
As usual, it was Julia Reda (Greens/EFA, Germany) who was the most vocal about the content of the 26 November discussions. After publishing on her website the agenda of the meeting, the 4-column table dated 23 November and the Commission's compromise proposals, she informed EUROPE that there had been no real progress on the controversial issues of neighbouring rights for newspaper publishers (Article 11) and the value gap (Article 13). "I doubt that two trilogues are enough [to reach an agreement], as there are still so many open questions", she said.
According to our information, on Article 11, the negotiators would hardly agree on the definition of press publications. For the rest, they would have instructed the Commission to submit new proposals to clarify that hyperlinks are indeed excluded from the scope of application and that journalists must be protected and paid. On Article 13, the negotiators did not really get to the heart of the debate, namely technical measures. Instead, they addressed the issue of scope, with Parliament simply demanding an exclusion for SMEs.
Also on the agenda were the questions of the right to equitable remuneration (Article 14) and the creation of a right for sporting events (Article 12a), two provisions requested by Parliament. On the first question, the Council indicated that it could support the Commission's proposal for an appropriate and proportionate right to remuneration, provided that lump sum payments were excluded, while Parliament opposed it (see EUROPE 12133). On the second question, it would appear that Parliament is prepared to waive this right provided that the Commission shall undertake to examine the problem raised by this provision.
The co-legislators wish to complete this dossier at the latest before the end of Parliament's term of office. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)