Brussels, 23/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - At their informal meeting in Falun on Monday and Tuesday, the EU Ministers for Culture and the Audiovisual sector did not manage to reach agreement on the Swedish Presidency's proposal to tighten the protection of children against advertising on television. Sweden was backed by some Member states, but its radical proposal of banning advertising did not receive enough support. Council President Marita Ulvskog declared that "henceforth, advertising for children is clearly on the agenda for the future review of the Broadcasting Directive" (1989). For Commissioner Viviane Reding (who was not in Falun), "it is out of the question that the Commission should one day propose a ban or tightened rules of protection as provided for by the Broadcasting Directive". The debate has therefore been postpone to end-2002. Furthermore, the Fifteen reaffirmed their will to defend the independence of public television stations faced with the complaints sent in to the Commission by private television stations. Sweden, which has banned advertising aimed at children under 12 since 1991, was not therefore followed, but the first genuine debate on the issue held in Falun allowed for certain positions to be clarified. Several Member States, backed the idea of tightened rules: Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands, which already have systems to limit advertising for children. This backing came together with provisos: Belgium, for example stipulated that this subject should only be dealt with at the time of the Directive's review. Christopher Forax, Ms. Reding's spokesman, for his part, stipulated that "for the Commission, the directive and codes of conduct in force are wholly adequate". On several occasions, the European lobby for the advertising industry (EGTA) has said it was concerned at seeing a profitable market disappear, market that brings it in some 31 billion euro.
In Falun, the Fifteen also had a debate on public television stations, in which, Maria Ulskog declared, "they agreed that Member States had the right to define the funding of their public service at national level". Under pressure from private stations, which regard mixed funding of rival stations as unfair, the Commission intends presenting a report in September responding to these concerns. Christoph Forax recalled that "the Commission is not against mixed funding", and warned that State aid came under its "exclusive competence"
Finally, Member States dealt with cultural issues in the framework of enlargement, observing that out of the twelve candidate countries which have begun negotiations on the media and culture chapters, eight were ready, and that Lithuania and Latvia had ended negotiations.