Organisation

Institutional Framework

Executive Council

Each of the Observatory's members is represented within the Observatory's governing body, the Executive Council, with one vote per member.  The Executive Council meets twice a year: once in the country holding the annually rotating Presidency of the Observatory and once in Strasbourg. The purpose of these meetings is to adopt the Observatory's annual action plans and Mid-term Strategy (which form the basis of all our work) and to approve the budget needed to finance the work involved. The Observatory's budget comes from contributions from our members and is also partly financed by the sales of our products and services. The full list of member organisations can be found on the Members page.
 

40 member states plus the European Union

Advisory Committee

The European Audiovisual Observatory's information is used by media professionals in Europe and indeed beyond. In order that the information we supply correspond to the information needs of these professionals, the Observatory is advised in its choices by a committee of media professionals: the Advisory Committee. This body is composed of representatives from the major European professional organisations representing most sectors of the audiovisual industry. Film makers, distributors, cinema owners, private and public broadcasters, ISPs and journalists, for example, are all represented within the Advisory Committee. This body comments on the Observatory's Action Plan and, most importantly, gives us grass roots feedback on the kind of information media professionals in Europe really need. We incorporate their feedback into our strategic choices on the information we produce. The full list of Advisory Committee members can be found on the Advisory Committee page.
 

Financial Committee

The Observatory's budget is composed of contributions made from our 40 member states and the European Union. It is given a final green light by our Financial Committee. This body brings together the Permanent Representatives ("Ambassadors") from each of our member states to the Council of Europe. They meet once a year in autumn in order to green light the final budget for the following year.

Current list of all Permanent Representatives to the Council of Europe
 

Bureau of the Executive Council

The Observatory's Bureau is, in effect, its management board elected by and from within the Executive Council. It prepares the Executive Council meetings and monitors the Observatory's work. The Bureau is composed of the Chairperson of the Executive Council and of a maximum of eight members, among which are the former Chairperson, the future Chairperson, the European Union and a maximum of five elected members. The Council of Europe has Observer status within the Bureau.
 

Board of External Auditors

The accounts of the Observatory are subject to an external audit by the Board of External Auditors consisting of three members selected for their qualifications in the control of finance and appointed by the Executive Council for a three-year mandate.

Secretariat

The practical and logistical aspects of the Observatory's work are carried out by its Secretariat at our Strasbourg headquarters. The Secretariat brings together the Administration headed by the Executive Director and the two content-producing Departments: the Department for Market Information and the Department for Legal Information. Three support units make it possible to bring our content to our target groups: the Production, Marketing and Distribution Unit, the Information, Press and Public Relations Unit and the Information Technology Unit. Our secretariat currently brings together 27 Europeans from 10 different countries.