EUROPEAN AUDIOVISUAL OBSERVATORY

10TH ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE

"THE CHALLENGE OF TRANSPARENCY IN THE AUDIOVISUAL SECTOR"

Strasbourg, 17th January 2003

On the occasion of its 10th anniversary, the European Audiovisual Observatory brought together experts from all over Europe and an audience of some 170 participants from all branches of the audiovisual industry, for a conference on the theme of `The Challenge of Transparency in the Audiovisual Sector'.

The Conference was chaired by Mr. Bernard Miyet, President of the SACEM. Mr Miyet summarised the historical background to the creation of the Observatory: at the end of the 80's, rapid development of audiovisual markets and political changes in Eastern Europe gave rise to the need for a body capable of helping policy makers and industry professionals to better understand the evolution of the film and television branches. The solution that was found was the establishment of the European Audiovisual Observatory as an enlarged partial agreement of the Council of Europe.  This was both a sophisticated and not immediately self-evident solution, but the Observatory has since clearly demonstrated its efficiency and utility.

The proceedings of the conference were opened by Mr Walter Schwimmer, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, who extended his congratulations on the 10th anniversary of the Observatory and commented on the importance in the future of co-operation between the Council of Europe and the European Commission, co-operation anticipated by the Observatory, where the European Commission plays an active role. He reiterated his wish for the rapid accession of the European Union to the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights.  Mr Jukka Liedes, Director at the Finnish Ministry of Culture and Chairman of the Executive Council of the Observatory and Mrs Olga Kliamaki, representing the Greek Presidency of the European Union, stressed the importance of the work of the Observatory in the fields of market and legal information in providing a solid and objective basis for the elaboration of European policy in the coming months.

On the occasion of the Conference, the Observatory published a 116 page commemorative book, 10 Years of Transparency in the Audiovisual Industry. This publication provides testimonials from a number of prominent persons, 13 articles on transparency by experts drawn from the Observatory's networks and a comprehensive presentation of Observatory achievements in 10 years of activity (publications, databases, participation in conferences throughout Europe...). Mrs Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Culture, states in her contribution that the Observatory is a "model of international integration between the activities of private sector and public authorities".

Why do we need transparency in the European audiovisual sector?

The first panel of the Conference opened with a discussion of the need for transparency in the European audiovisual sector.  Transparency was a fundamental prerequisite, stated Mr Roberto Barzanti, former Vice-President of the European Parliament, for the correct and responsible functioning of the audiovisual market, and for policy revision and development. Without transparency, he pointed out, the `Information Society' could all too easily become a society of `disinformation'. Mr. Barzanti commented that although the Observatory is not officially in charge of monitoring of the implementation of the "quotas" defined by articles 4 and 5 of the European "Television Without Frontiers" Directive, the data it publishes clearly demonstrates that the objective of improving the circulation of European works set out in 1989 has not been fully achieved.

Mr Shaun Day, representing the BBC, and Mr François Hurard, of the Centre national de la cinématographie, illustrated the British and French approaches to transparency in the context of their respective organisations. For the BBC, transparency is part of the concept of accountability: the public service broadcaster must justify to the licence fee payer what is done with his or her money. For the CNC, precise statistics and a national register of works are indispensable for a correct allocation of public resources and for the transparency of rights management.  Mr Greger Lindberg, chairman of the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities, pointed out the importance of transparency in the regulation of broadcasting.  He raised the question as to whether the very concept of individual broadcasting licences was not contrary to the ideal of freeedom of expression.  In a truly transparent system, he said, the powers of regulatory bodies would be described and limited in law and they would be required to motivate their decisions.

Transparency and the legal framework for the audiovisual sector in Europe

The second panel, chaired by Mr Wolfgang Closs, Executive Director of the European Audiovisual Observatory, pondered the legal framework for the audiovisual sector in Europe.  Mrs Susanne Nikoltchev, Head of the Department Legal Information at the Observatory, underlined the links between transparency and the process of legislating. This included the important role national legislation plays for setting the European framework, the challenges for the legislative procedures after the enlargement of the EU as well as the possibility that new forms of regulation could lead to increased transparency.

Ms Carolyn Morrison, Head of the International Broadcasting at the British Department of Culture, Media and Sport [1] pointed out that, while the UK Communications Bill currently before the British Parliament was no doubt in advance of legislation in the rest of Europe, United Kingdom legislation would have to align itself if necessary on future European law. One of the very positive outcomes of the recent Danish Presidency of the European Union had been, she concluded, the agreement that all interested parties would contribute to thinking on possible proposals for the revision of the Television Without Frontiers Directive.

Mr Karol Jakubowicz, Head of Strategic Planning at TVP (Poland) and Vice-chairman of the CDMM, Council of Europe, provided a personal view of the prospects for partnership in the area of media policy and regulation within the enlarged European Union.  He stressed the vulnerability of the relatively underdeveloped media markets in new members, given the guiding principles of the internal market and the failure of the European Union to make any impact on media concentration in Europe.  The European Union must, he pleaded, act as an `honest broker' to adjudicate in and help resolve the multiple problems surrounding the media in these countries, and face up to it's responsibilities, instead of sweeping problems in new and old member countries under the carpet.

Mr Alexander Scheuer of the European Institute of Media Law outlined the varying approaches of de-regulation and co-regulation in the context of media legislation and pointed out that only in the presence of sufficient transparency was co-regulation an appropriate instrument.

The point of view of the economist was expressed by Mr Laurent Benzoni, Professor at Paris II and Télécom-Paris, who outlined what industry requires of legislators.  Three themes in particular needed to be better dealt with in legislation: that of exclusivity of contents, of protection of both culture and markets, and that of concentration.  He underlined the difference between the protection of culture, which should be permanent, and the protection of markets, which must be short-lived and temporary.  He suggested that agreed definitions of "relevant markets", necessary to analyse the level of competition in the audiovisual sector, should be considered.

Opportunities and risks engendered by digitalisation and new services

The panel `Digitalisation and New Services', chaired by Observatory former Executive Director Mr. Nils Klevjer Aas, summarised the opportunities and risks for the audiovisual industry. The gains to broadcasters, producers and telecom operators from the increasingly popular method of voting or participating in programmes via mobile phone SMS were outlined by Ms Monique Van Dusseldorp of consultants Van Dusseldorp & Partners.  Jean Dacié, of the Association française des développeurs, éditeurs et fournisseurs de service en télévision interactive (AFDESI) [2] pointed out the important role played by European companies as editors of video games and in the development of interactive television.  Following rapid expansion at the end of the nineties, the European video game industry is since 2000 facing an important crisis. Public support for these linked industries should perhaps be envisaged, he suggested, along the lines of that available in some Asian countries. Digital distribution of feature films was the subject tackled by Mr Ben Keen, Executive Editor of Screen Digest.  Full deployment of digital technology in cinemas and significant distribution of films through Internet would not take place before 2004/5, he predicted, and in the interim digitally packaged media, notably DVD, were likely to dominate the market in terms of revenue.  

Legal implications of digital technologies were also on the agenda for this panel: Mr Bernt Hugenholtz, Professor at the University of Amsterdam and a member of its Institute for Information Law, pointed out that since the advent of the information society copyright law had become a centre of controversy, and in particular had given rise to technologically specific legislation.  Such legislation was undesirable because it tended to be too case oriented, too complicated and thus too short-lived. He doubted the alleged need for revising existing copyright law and urged that changes be kept to a minimum in order to maintain a stable legal framework. 

New forms of television, on the other hand, would require specially adapted legislation, pointed out Mr Alberto Perez Gomez, legal advisor to RED.ES [3], though as yet no broad consensus had been found as to how to deal with these developments.

Is the European audiovisual sector on the brink of a financial crisis?

The last panel, moderated by former Observatory Executive Director Mr. Ismo Silvo, asked whether the European audiovisual sector was on the verge of a financial crisis.  Mr. André Lange, Head of Department Markets and Financing at the European Audiovisual Observatory, presented the results of his research into the financial situation of the various branches of the European audiovisual industry.  All branches, apart from video, show preoccupying financial fragility since 2000, and this was particularly the case in the exhibition sector and amongst digital TV packagers and cable-operators. Company failures and consolidation processes are now high on the agenda of the industry. The transition to digital television is extremely costly and in 9 of the 15 Members States of the European Community, the overall television system is now in deficit. It was too early however, he pointed out, to say whether this was a durable crisis or the combined result of an unfavourable economic conjuncture and the transition to digital. 

Mr. Philippe Coste, International Director of IDATE, presented the results of a comparative study of the strategies of public service radio-television companies in the major European markets.  Rapid developments in the market had resulted in a crisis of legitimacy for public service broadcasters, he said, though these channels remained predominant both in financial and audience terms.

The uncertainties surrounding the transition to digital television were outlined by Prof. Giuseppe Richeri of the University of Lugano.  The situation varied widely from country to country, and the first two attempts to put in place digital platforms, in the United Kingdom and in Spain, had met with failure.  Nonetheless the passage to digital television and the consequent abandon of analog transmission remained high on many government agendas.  It remained however that the ideology of technological determinism had led to the loss of billions of euros, stated Prof. Richeri. Finally, Mr. Mike Waterson, Chairman of the World Advertising Research Center, evaluated the prospects for advertising spending in the near future.  The decline in revenue from advertising is in large part responsible for the present financial fragility of many television channels, and has negative consequences for all branches of the audiovisual industry dependant on television as an outlet.   The only real threat to advertising expenditure came from economic recession, he pointed out, so in that respect advertising was not in a financial crisis but simply experiencing a period of economic downturn, such as had previously been the case in the early nineties.  Growth was likely to continue in the years to come, but with a rather low rate (around 3% per annum), with the principal threat in Europe coming from either regulatory control or prohibition.

The proceeding of the Conference and the publication 10 Years of Transparency in the Audiovisual Industry are available on the Observatory website.

Pictures of the Conference may be downloaded from the Council of Europe portal.

For the detailed conference programme, please click here (pdf).

[1] Replaced Ms Vibeke Petersen, Special Advisor to the Danish Minister of Culture, announced in the original conference programme

[2] Replaced Alain Lediberder, Director of CLVE, announced in the original conference programme.

[3] The official registry of Internet domain names for Spain

___________________________________________________________

Contact:

European Audiovisual Observatory
Markus Booms, PR
Email: Markus.BOOMS@coe.int - Tel: +33 (0) 3 90 21 60 06

The European Audiovisual Observatory

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 comprised of 35 member states and of which the European Community is also a member.  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 together with a network of correspondents.  In addition to its contributions to conferences, other major activities are the publication of statistics and newsletters, compilation and management of databases and the provision of information through the Observatory's Internet site.