Brussels, 26/08/2004 (Agence Europe) - In a letter to the President designate of the European Commission, José Manuel Durao Barroso, and Viviane Reding, future European Commissioner for the Information Society and the Media, the Federation of European Film Directors (FERA) expresses concern about the impact of the new division of portfolios in the College on the audiovisual sector. FERA 'deeply regrets that audiovisual isn't any more expressly mentioned in the title of a Directorate-General' and expressed concern about the future of the audiovisual policy and Media programme units within the future Information Society Directorate-General. FERA says that 'to take these units out of the general EU cultural framework policy could have extremely prejudicial consequences for cultural diversity, pluralism and freedom of expression. The information society … relates to content transmission techniques whereas audiovisual deal with the content of works. Transmission techniques should not influence the transmitted contents.' The strong convergence characterising the telecoms sector could 'lead to a standardisation of contents and a de facto weakening of cultural diversity to which the European citizens proved their attachment many times', comments FERA. The audiovisual sector contributes to GDP both in terms of infrastructure performance and the creativity expressed in films and their content, and FERA urges future President Barroso and Commissioner Reding to 'clearly define the place and the role of audiovisual within the European Commission's policy.'