Union defends right to protect culture

Date: 16/09/1999

By Peter Chapman

THE EU will warn fellow World Trade Organisation members that its hard won "cultural exemption" is not up for grabs during the next round of trade talks - unless the price is right.

Debate on the issue within the Union is set to reach fever pitch in the coming weeks as the Union prepares its negotiating position for the next round of tariff-cutting talks.

Under the current world rules on trade in services (GATS), agreed in 1993, the EU enjoys a hard-won opt-out for its cultural sector which allows it to impose schemes such as its infamous 50% ceiling on the proportion of foreign programmes shown on European television.

That opt-out was won mainly thanks to intense lobbying by France, which claimed that European culture was under threat of extinction - killed off by Hollywood imports at the cinema and on junk-filled television channels.

The EU's cultural projectionists and free traders alike are expecting pressure for this exemption to be sacrificed if the Union is to succeed in convincing other trade blocks to agree to the wide-ranging multilateral round it wants.

Outgoing Trade Commissioner Sir Leon Brittan angered many in the Union's audio-visual industry earlier this month when he told the European Parliament that the Union no longer needed to hide behind trade barriers to protect its industry.

However, Pascal Lamy, the man chosen by Romano Prodi to take over the trade dossier from Brittan, assured MEPs during his confirmation hearing that the Union would not throw its culture to the lions of free trade. France's Lamy stressed at his audition that the EU's cultural exemption would be "recognised".

His colleague Viviane Reding, who has been given responsibility for the audiovisual policy dossier, insisted during her audition that she, too, would "stand up for" the exemption in any future negotiations.

Meanwhile, EU culture ministers emerged undecided from a recent meeting in Finland which focused on the issue.

Italy, France, Portugal and Ireland all insisted the cultural exemption should not be on offer at any cost. But others, including the UK, argued that the culture sector no longer needed to be sheltered from competition.

However, EU trade experts claim even those member states which share the UK's view are too canny to offer to give away the exemption without extracting something better in return.

The EU will warn fellow World Trade Organisation members that its hard won 'cultural exemption' is not up for grabs during the next round of trade talks - unless the price is right. Article forms part of a survey on world trade, p13-20.