Press Release

Strasbourg, 9 June 2009

Virenque re-elected to chair Observatory’s Advisory Committee

Speaking just after his election, Virenque stated that he was looking forward to building on the results of his first year’s Chairmanship. He emphasised his hope that the Observatory would be soon given the means to enlarge its coverage of the European audiovisual sector to cover the field of new technologies and tax law. Virenque praised the competence of the Observatory’s team and underlined the excellent reputation of the Observatory’s reports as neutral and reliable sources of information for the industry.

The Observatory’s Director, Wolfgang Closs, concluded that the Observatory has tightened up its contacts with the various sectors of the audiovisual industry under Virenque’s Chairmanship. “We now have a direct line to the concerns and information needs of the professionals working in the fields of television, film and video. We intend to fulfil these needs as much as possible by providing the right facts, figures and analyses in the coming year.”

The European Audiovisual Observatory

Set up in December 1992, the European Audiovisual Observatory's mission is to gather and distribute information on the audiovisual industry in Europe. The Observatory is a European public service body comprised of 37 member states and the European Union, represented by the European Commission. It operates within the legal framework of the Council of Europe and works alongside a number of partner and professional organisations from within the industry and with a network of correspondents. In addition to contributions to conferences, other major activities are the publication of a Yearbook, newsletters and reports, the compilation and management of databases and the provision of information through the Observatory’s Internet site (http://www.obs.coe.int).