Brussels, 02/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - In the context of the Belgian Union Presidency, Belgium's French Community and the Walloon Region are to jointly organise, on 5 and 6 October in Mons, a meeting of Culture and Audiovisual Ministers and their counterparts from candidate countries. The theme of the meeting will be "A new approach to developing the audio-visual sector". The aim of this meeting is to assess the position of candidate countries compared to the acquis communautaire on audiovisual matters, mainly with regard to the "television without frontiers" directive. Commissioner Viviane Reding will, on 5 October, present the Commission's Communication on certain legal aspects linked to films and other audiovisual works (see EUROPE of 29 September, p.13). The participants at this ministerial meeting include the Minister for the Economy of the Wallonia Region, Serge Kubla; Minister for Arts, Literature and Audiovisual of the Belgium's French Community Richard Miller; and the President of the European Investment Bank, Philippe Maystadt.
Ministers will study the report from four workshops attended by some 200 experts on the following themes: 1) registry of audio-visual works and improved distribution of programmes; 2) the role of State aid; 3) challenges to restarting World Trade Organisation negotiations; and 4) the specific role of the regional funds and the banking and financial sectors. During a press conference, the Ministers-President of the French Community and the Wallonia Region, Hervé Hasquin and Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe respectively, insisted on the need to take into account not only the cultural but also the economic aspects of the audio-visual sector. This sector, and the film industry in particular, is confronted by new challenges (the future of production and distribution, digitalisation, growing internationalisation, debates on cultural diversity, and the economic fragility of the sector, etc.), which are linked to the development and to the funding of the audiovisual sector, they explained. They felt it was indispensable for EU ministers to give a clear signal regarding the ways and means to be implemented over the next ten years in order to foster development of the audiovisual sector.
In response to a communication from Ms Reding and to the general problems of development in the audiovisual sector, and in the run up to the French-speaking Summit to be held in a few weeks from now in Beirut and the WTO negotiations in Doha, Hervé Hasquin announced that the Belgian Presidency was preparing a draft resolution to be added to the agenda of the Culture-Audiovisual Council of 5 November. He also said the Belgian Presidency awaited another Commission communication on the financing of public television, for end October. This communication will be the subject of a debate during the seminar organised by Richard Miller on this subject, on 16 November this year.