A3-0297/94

Resolution on the Commission communication on the application of Articles 4 and 5 of Directive 89/552/EEC-Television without frontiers (COM(94)0057 - C3-0124/94)

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the Convention on Transfrontier Television approved by the Council of Europe on 5 May 1989,

-having regard to the Commission communication of 21 February 1990 on audiovisual policy (COM(90)0078),

-having regard to its opinion of 23 November 1990 on the European audiovisual industry,

-having regard to its resolution of 16 September 1992 on media concentration and diversity of opinion,

-having regard to its resolution of 22 January 1993 on encouraging audiovisual production in the context of the strategy for high-definition television,

-having regard to its resolution of 17 December 1993 on pornography,

-having regard to its resolution of 20 January 1994 on pluralism and media concentration in the internal market,

-having regard to its resolution of 20 January 1994 on Community policy in the field of culture,

-having regard to the Commission communication of 3 March 1994 on the application of Articles 4 and 5 of Directive 89/552/EEC (COM(94)0057 - C3-0124/94)

-having regard to the motion for a resolution by Mrs Muscardini on a Community broadcasting area (B3-0444/89),

-having regard to the motion for a resolution by Mr Bandrés Molet and others on restrictions on freedom of expression and communication (B3-0052/90),

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education and the Media and the opinion of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy (A3-0297/94),

A.whereas, with a view to the European audiovisual conference to be held by the Commission in Brussels in 1994, Parliament needs to set out its provisional position on this issue,

B.whereas, having stated its views on technological development and programme production in the European television industry, it is necessary to outline its position on existing Community legislation and the application, effectiveness and possible revision of this legislation,

C.believing it necessary to set out its views following the conclusion of the GATT negotiations which proved partly satisfactory from Europe's point of view, since they recognized to some extent the specific nature of audiovisual products as compared to other kinds of goods,

D.confirming that the GATT agreements have not affected Europe's freedom to take the measures needed to develop a strong and competitive audiovisual sector; that they do not explicitly mention the audiovisual sector; that no commitment was given either by Europe or by the other signatories to GATT in that respect,

E.concerned at the future of motion picture production in an increasingly complex audiovisual sector dominated by television,

F.whereas the breaches of Community rules and the authorizations granted to certain international satellite broadcasters must be seen as highly alarming,

G.whereas, furthermore, the time has come to enter a new phase and introduce a concerted and properly coordinated audiovisual policy in Europe,

H.having regard to the principle of subsidiarity and the new powers deriving from Title IX, Culture, and Title XIII Industry (Articles 128 and 130) of the EC Treaty,

I.whereas, in view of the multimedia technological and industrial changes which will have a lasting impact upon the electronic media landscape and consumer attitudes by diversifying the use of electronic media, for example through pay TV and interactive facilities, it will also be necessary to review the applicability of the administrative regulations of the Union and its Member States,

J.recalling paragraph 14(g) of its above-mentioned resolution of 17 December 1993 on pornography, in which it called for the inclusion by the Commission of Article 7 of the European Convention on Transfrontier Television in the 'Television without Frontiers' Directive,

1.Reaffirms the need for Directive 89/552/EEC to form the basic reference point for a body of law establishing a genuine European audiovisual area;

2.Considers it essential, in the context of Article 130 of the EC Treaty which is aimed at enhancing the competiveness of European industry, to devote special attention to the audiovisual sector, which is expanding rapidly and which is of growing importance from the economic and employment point of view;

3.Believes the directive's basic structure to be sound and accusations that the directive is too restrictive to be either out of step with the current situation or unjustified;

4.Believes that a careful cultural and economic assessment should be made of the directive's incorporation into the laws of the various Member States;

5.Considers it essential for the impact of the as yet partial implementation of the directive to be examined on the basis of the Commission communication regarding Articles 4 and 5;

6.Considers it essential that the Commission's current examination of the possible need to harmonize national provisions relating to the problems of concentration and pluralism in the electronic and printed media sector, also in the light of Parliament's resolutions on the subject, should make rapid progress;

7.Maintains that, with a view to protecting and enhancing media pluralism and the diversity of cultural works, a European legislative framework must be established alongside national monopoly laws to control and restrict concentrations and mergers of companies operating in the broadcast and printed news sector;

8.Believes that, without being granted inadmissible concessions, public service television, insofar as it has an internally pluralist structure and is not profit-oriented in its operation, should receive special treatment in respect of application of the rules on competition set ou in Article 90 of the EC Treaty;

9.Takes the view that, because of its duty to educate and its particular role in promoting diversity of opinion, public service broadcasting should be, to a large extent, subject to different market conditions from commercial broadcasting;

10.Considers that Articles 4 and 5 of the directive should be amended, if appropriate, in the light of the outcome of the European Audiovisual Conference and an assessment of the Member States' reports on implementation, bearing in mind that Article 4 of the directive does not specify that effective legal means must be used to enforce the requirement that a majority proportion of transmission time must be reserved for European works, but that each Member State should attain the proportion at its own pace, in accordance with its own specific requirements;

11.Calls on the Commission to consider, together with any other amendments to the directive to be submitted before the end of 1994, possible ways of making Article 4 more specific and incisive;

12.Calls also on the Commission to assess the possibility of submitting the amendments by 3 October 1994, pursuant to Article 4(4) of the directive, so as to ascertain whether the aim of promoting the distribution and production of European works can be achieved more effectively by increasing the percentage fixed in Article 5 for the programming budget reserved for the broadcasting of European works;

13.Calls on the Commission to consider the possibility of including provisions concerning preferential time slots for the broadcasting of European works;

14.Emphasizes that one of the basic problems which has emerged in this connection is that highly disparate types of programme, such as 'émissions de plateau' (magazine-format programmes lasting several hours) and 'émissions de variété' (light entertainment programmes), may be included when the percentage is calculated;

15.Considers that, at the very least, the overall percentage of transmission time devoted to European works should be broken down to show the proportion taken up by television serials and that allocated to motion picture films;

16.Considers that the conclusions in the reports submitted by the Member States for the period October 1991 to December 1992 are difficult to compare because there is not always uniformity in the statistical methods used or because there is no continuous in-depth monitoring, thus making it difficult to obtain meaningful results;

17.Believes the objective of promoting independent productions to be far from achieved, owing inter alia to the provision made in Article 5 for broadcasters to be able to choose between reserving 10% of transmission time or 10% of the programming budget;

18.Considers that the details of the Member States' reports set out in the Commission communication point to serious difficulties in achieving significant, convincing results in respect of the promotion of independent productions and support for recent works;

19.Calls on the Commission, in cooperation with representatives of the industry, to look into the possibility of implementing a flexible system of incentives for the production of European works which might be based on the reinvestment by broadcasters of a progressive share of their profits;

20.Considers it essential for the Commission to take all possible steps to ensure compliance with all the provisions set out in the chapter on advertising and sponsorship, particularly the general provisions;

21.Believes it vital that the market should allow an adequate expansion and fair distribution of advertising among the different media in order to promote the proper development of the communication system as a whole;

22.Expresses surprise at the exemptions which may be granted to national broadcasters in respect of certain aspects of advertising, not least because it finds such exemptions difficult to apply in practice and likely to lead to dangerous imbalances in the European market;

23.Restates its belief that exemptions are viable only at local or regional level;

24.Expresses its concern at the scandalous lack of respect shown for the provisions on the protection of minors and states its opposition to the spread of scenes of violence or scenes which constitute an affront to human dignity;

25.Believes that attention should be paid to the phenomenon of violence in the electronic media and calls on all concerned to seek appropriate ways of curbing it, perhaps by self-restraint;

26.Urges the Commission to initiate discussions at European level on violence in the media and possible European solutions to this problem, except where these matters are already regulated at national level;

27.Calls for a special committee on ethics in television to be set up within the proposed Media Council;

28.Considers that insufficient attention has so far been paid to the European Audiovisual Observatory based in Strasbourg and calls for it to be given greater support in view of the fundamental role it can play by providing a continuously updated body of data on the European audiovisual sector;

29.Believes, particularly in view of the complex situation which has arisen, that clarification is required in respect of how new types of advertising, such as the 'Dauerwerbesendungen' in Germany, long-lasting features in the United Kingdom and 'telepromozioni' in Italy, are to be included in the percentages already established for advertising;

30.Would welcome greater consideration being given to a European solution in the matter of private copies and moral right in the area of copyright, in view of the major developments referred to above;

31.Believes that consideration should now be given to the drafting of a cinema directive with a view to the establishment of a European market to mirror that created in the television sector;

32.Believes that we now have an excellent opportunity - although a limited amount of time - to breathe new life into the policies and investment plans required to give the European audiovisual sector a substantial boost;

33.Believes the priorities established inter alia during the discussions on amendments to the MEDIA programme - financing mechanisms, pre-production, distribution and training - to be the best means of establishing coherent, stable European networks;

34.Considers that the relevant legislation, programmes and investment incentives could usefully be coordinated with institutions such as the Council of Europe and UNESCO and should show due consideration for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe;

35.Maintains that, following the conclusion of the GATT accords, the European Union's strategy must not be to embark on a futile trade war but rather to develop with determination and on a basis of reciprocity an audiovisual industry which can exist and expand in a world in which the promotion of culture is becoming increasingly necessary as a means of furthering knowledge and stimulating creativity;

36.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of the Member States, the Council of Europe and UNESCO.