Press Release

Strasbourg, 26 June 2006

Jean-Paul Commin elected President of the Observatory’s Advisory Committee for the third time Jean-Paul Commin, President of the International Video Federation (IVF), was, for the third time in a row, unanimously elected Chairman for 2007 of the European Audiovisual Observatory's Advisory Committee which met last Thursday at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. Mr. Commin has been President of the IVF for the past 10 years and is also President of the PEVE (European Video Conference) which was launched 15 years ago under the auspices of the European Commission. He has also been Chief Operating Officer of France Televisions Distribution since 2001. Evidently pleased at the prospect of a third term in office, Mr Commin declared immediately after his re-election that he looked forward to continuing and consolidating his work with the team of the European Audiovisual Observatory as this organisation clearly has “an increasingly key role to play in Europe in these times of marked development of the audiovisual sector”.

Based in Strasbourg, the European Audiovisual Observatory functions as part of the Council of Europe, providing reports and statistical data on the audiovisual industries throughout Europe in the fields of markets and financing as well as the legal aspects of the audiovisual sphere.

The Observatory's Advisory Committee brings together the leading representatives of 27 different European and international professional bodies from the various sectors of the audiovisual industry as well as the Observatory's partner organisations:

ACE	CNC	FEITIS	IVF	RIC
ACT	ECCA	FERA	IVIR	UER/EBU
CCE	EFCA	FIAD	Media Center	UNIC
CEFC	EIB/BEI	FIAPF	MEI
CEPI	EMR	IAMCR/AIERIC	MMLPC
CICCE	EPRA	IFJ/FIJ	OMPI/WIPO

During its annual meeting last week, the audiovisual professionals represented within the Observatory’s Advisory Committee underlined the necessity to provide the Observatory with ample means to fulfil its mission: providing reliable information on the audiovisual sector in Europe including the areas of new technologies and tax and labour law.

For further press information about the European Audiovisual Observatory, please contact:  Alison.HINDHAUGH@coe.int

Set up in December 1992, the European Audiovisual Observatory's goal is to gather and distribute information on the audiovisual industry in Europe.  The Observatory is a European public service body, operating within the framework of the Council of  Europe, comprising 37 member states and the European Community, represented by the Commission.  It operates within the legal framework of the Council of Europe and it works alongside a number of partner organisations, professional organisations from within the industry and a network of correspondents. In addition to its contribution in conferences other major activities are the publication of statistics and newsletters, compilation of databases (LUMIERE, KORDA and IRIS MERLIN) and information readily available on its portal: www.obs.coe.int .