Brussels, 15/04/2008 (Agence Europe) - On 10 April, the European Parliament adopted - by 586 votes to 36 and with amendments - the report by Guy Bono (PES, France) on cultural industries in Europe. The report presents concrete proposals, such as the establishment of a task force on culture and the creative economy for exploring the relationship between culture, creativity and innovation within the framework of Community policies.
MEPs took the view that adequate funding of creative industries is essential. They recommend mixed private-public funding methods as well as a favourable regulatory and fiscal framework and, more specifically, application of tax credits and reduced VAT rates on all cultural products, including on-line works. The Parliament also invites the Commission to consider the creation of a programme similar to the MEDIA programme to support digital libraries, music, theatre and publishing, as well as the transnational distribution of works. On the subject of copyright and related rights, MEPs call for collective, well-organised crossborder management and call on all operators in the sector, including telecommunications operators and access providers, to find equitable solutions allowing consumers to have free access to online content, while guaranteeing intellectual property rights in a way that ensures right-holders receive fair remuneration.
On the subject of free internet access, the Parliament adopted by a slim majority an amendment submitted by Guy Bono and Michel Rocard, co-signed by the Socialists, the Greens and the Communists of 12 member states. The amendment takes a stance against the “graduated response” defended by French President Nicolas Sarkozy consisting of momentarily blocking access to the internet for consumers for carrying out unlawful downloading of cultural content. Considering that the internet is a vast area of cultural expression, the Parliament calls on the Commission and member states to avoid taking measures that are in contradiction with civic freedoms and human rights, and with the principles of proportionality, efficacity and dissuasion, such as interrupted access to the internet. Cutting the internet link is a serious sanction that could have an impact on society where access to the internet is imperative for social inclusion, Mr Bono said, specifying that “it is not the 13% of Europeans who download cultural content unlawfully that are a threat to our culture but rather the concentration of our culture in the hands of a small number of large groups”. The Parliament also stresses the importance of crossborder mobility for artists and the need to have better statistics in order to allow the different countries to develop policies. Improvement is also needed for systems of qualification, apprenticeship and training, proposing artistic subjects to students in order to prepare them better for professional life and encouraging synergies between businesses and schools. It also suggests that culture should be better integrated into EU external policies.
Authors' societies deplore adoption of amendment
GESAC, which groups together EU, Norwegian and Swiss authors' and composers' societies, reacted strongly to inclusion of the amendment which, it states, is in complete contradiction to the aim of the report which plans to promote and protect cultural industries. Cutting internet access is only foreseen as a last resort in the event of repeated violation of copyright, GESAC argues. The “graduated response” is an approach to the problem that is in proportion and respectful of individual's rights, it states. In a press release, Jacques Toubon (MEP, EPP-ED, France), who voted against the report, states that copyright and related rights are at the very base of the creative industries and must be adjusted to new technologies. “They cannot be put to one side to the advantage of a libertarian concept of internet use”, Mr Toubon said. (I.L.)