25-26 September Culture Informal

Date: 03/10/1996

MINISTERS welcomed European Commission plans to look into the problem of child pornography on the Internet. Culture and Audio-visual Commissioner Marcelino Oreja said the subject would be addressed in a forthcoming Green Paper on new audio-visual services set to be unveiled on 9 October, which will consider the development of a wide range of new electronic communication services including the Internet, pay-television and TV shopping. A joint paper

put forward by Oreja, Industry Commissioner Martin Bangemann and Internal Market Commissioner Mario Monti,

the document aims to examine possibilities for harmonising EU legislation on the new services. “We want to look at ways of protecting EU citizens' basic rights and dignity, while at the same time ensuring that their civil liberties are not unduly infringed,” said one Commission official. The Commission was asked to present its views on the issue before the next formal meeting of audio-visual and culture ministers on 16 December.

A BLOW was dealt to pay-TV stations such as UK-based BSkyB and France's Canal+, with ministers clearly endorsing the concept of public service broadcasting. “There is a clear message that public service broadcasters must continue to have access to major popular programmes comprising, in particular, sports events. In other words, pure commercialism cannot be the criterion,” said Irish Arts Minister Michael Higgins. Ministers also made it clear that adequate funding for public service broadcasters - such as Spain's TVE or RAI in Italy - should be guaranteed and funding should be exempted from review under state aid and competition rules.

MINISTERS agreed that Article 128 of the Maastricht Treaty legally obliged the EU to “contribute to the flowering of the cultures of the member states” and said there was an urgent need to ensure that this obligation was met by practical proposals. The Council confirmed that culture had a key role to play in building the concept of a European citizen, stressing that a sense of cultural identity could enhance personal development, lead to greater economic and social cohesion, and improve job prospects. Ministers concluded that EU citizens had an inalienable right to access to culture and to affirm and express their cultural identity.