Activites

• 1995/09/25 Final act published in Official Journal
• 1995/07/14 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T4-0378/1995 summary

    In adopting the report by Mrs JUNKER (PSE, D), Parliament approved the Commission's willingness to create a competitive European programme industry with the aid of MEDIA II and the European Guarantee Fund. However, it deplored the lack of financial resources allocated by the Council for the development of a real European audiovisual policy. Parliament called in particular for the setting-up of a guarantee fund designed to promote European film-making (but without a veto). It also called on the Commission to introduce measures in favour of small independent producers and avant-garde productions (mainly by offering incentives to major producers who buy and distribute avant-garde works). Parliament also wanted the Commission and Member States to introduce fiscal measures designed to encourage private capital to invest in the European television and cinema industry and to improve the fiscal situation of the programme industry by reducing company tax to 10%. As regards radio broadcasting, Parliament pointed to the high quality of the European public channels and declared itself in favour of maintaining the global concept of public radio broadcasting and strengthening the competitiveness of this sector. It called for a policy on the media and programme industry which would see the new services as representatives of European cultural diversity, by allowing free, equal and non-discriminatory access. At the same time, Parliament called on the Commission to review the European directive on "TV without frontiers" and to dispel the legal uncertainties surrounding the quota system by imposing an obligatory scheme. In addition, the directive should promote the distribution of European works, prohibit pornography and programmes depicting violence and find legally binding ways of compensating for commercial breaks in films. As regards pluralism and the concentration of the media sector, Parliament supported the idea that bodies responsible for issuing licences in the radio broadcasting sector should cooperate at transfrontier level in order to limit the degree of concentration. For this purpose, a monitoring body with a mandate from the Member States should be set up to ensure the transparency of structures operating in the audiovisual sector. Finally, Parliament called for the countries of eastern Europe to be eligible for EC financial aid (particularly through programmes such as TACIS and PHARE). �

• 1995/07/13 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 1995/05/30 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A4-0140/1995
• 1994/05/02 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 1994/04/06 Non-legislative basic document published
  • COM(1994)0096 summary

    This Green Paper on strategy options to strengthen the programme industry in the context of the audiovisual policy of the European Union launched the following debate: How could the Union contribute to the development of a forward-looking cinema and television industry that was strong and competitive on the world market and capable of ensuring the influence of European culture and creating jobs in Europe? On the assumption that the European programme industry had not, for the time being, succeeded in overcoming its fragmentation around local markets, developing the intra-European movement of programmes, escaping from its chronic deficit or attracting significant European or foreign investment, the Green Paper highlighted the trends that the developments of the digital revolution would reinforce: increasing individualisation of supply and increased consumption in the financing of the sector, internationalisation and globalisation of the programme industry and related industries, growing need for programme lists were comprehensive in terms of both quantity and quality. It stressed the need, in extending the strategy already outlined in the White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness and Employment, of a structured approach to the programme industry, aimed at meeting the demands of each market segment and all the people of Europe, taking into account the variety of support and services required. More specifically, the new priorities of the Union's audiovisual policy should be as follows: dissemination of new technologies among companies in the sector, creation of a competitive environment for services, development of communication infrastructures, development of adapted training. These priorities should make it possible to implement the following objectives: opening up the national markets, ensuring real choice for the people of Europe, maximising opportunities in a field of the future, and ensuring, eventually, the profitability of the sector. In order to define the contours of this policy, the Green Paper launched, among actors in the audiovisual sector, a debate on various options centred on three areas of action: the rules of the game, financial incentives and the convergence of national systems. �

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: COM(1994)0096
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A4-0140/1995
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0378/1995

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)