25/10/2005 - Television without frontiers directive - Let's defend the cultural diversity

It has been more than 15 years since Europe undertook to regulate television activities, with the Television Without Frontiers (TVWF) Directive. Ambitious and consistent, the rules set forth by the directive have lost none of their legitimacy, whether it be a matter of the distribution and production obligations requiring broadcasters to devote a share of their programming to European works, or provisions regulating advertising and commercial interruptions of works. European legislation has shown its effectiveness and its crucial contribution to protection of the production, greater exposure to our works and expression of our diverse cultural backgrounds.

But the world of television has been profoundly transformed in these 15 years. The recent arrival of new services and sweeping technological changes impose a review of this directive. The future of all creative audiovisual and cinematographic production in Europe rides on this revision.

The recent Liverpool Conference was attended by all actors in the European audiovisual sector, for debate on the directions in which this new European legislation should be headed. After this meeting large doubts are left looming over the audiovisual future of Europe. We greatly fear that the Commission will retreat from its ambition to shape policy in favour of cultural diversity, and following a short-sighted vision will give in to pressure from a few industrialists who are anxious to escape all constraints.

Technological advances have not made the principle of cultural diversity out-of-date or old-fashioned. On the contrary, preventing one or a few dominant cultures from imposing their ways of thinking, writing or living on other less powerful groups is a modern idea.

Of course dissemination of works no longer follows a single pathway. Now they may be viewed on television, on computers, and even on mobile phones. This technological turning point in how works are seen must be answered, in our opinion, by a new political and strategic orientation on the part of the European Commission; otherwise, with the technological progress, regulations that have been painstakingly acquired would become meaningless.

These are the stakes: extending to the so-called "non-linear services" (including notably video-on-demand) the commitments in terms of cultural diversity and promotion of European audiovisual production that today apply only to traditional television broadcasting.

The telecom industries as they take part in showing works can no longer be exempted from any and all obligations regarding cultural diversity. There is no reason for them to be exempted, on the pretext of an emerging economic market, from making a fair and balanced contribution and a commitment to creation and production, as do television broadcasters.

If today we are unable to adapt our rules to bring all operators who distribute and invest in creative works to respect cultural diversity, it's a good bet that uniformity and homogenisation will win out over innovation, audacity and quality.

Today and even more in the future we will see strong growth in new services that make films and audiovisual works available to audiences. But what added value will there be for creative work in Europe, if our films and TV movies are not offered? What will be gained by our fellow citizens if offerings are restricted to standard-format products, made mainly in the United States and for children programmes in Japan? What will be the image of Europe, if it does not set common and harmonised rules for contribution to production and promotion of European works, ground rules that apply to all operators (broadcasters, Internet service providers, telecommunications operators)?

The Commission must seize this opportunity, revision of the TVWF directive, to extend the rules aimed at supporting cultural diversity to all operators who handle audiovisual content. The Commission would make a grave political error with consequences for both European identity and for creative activity if it were to miss this chance.

We have always assumed our responsibilities and given personally of our time and efforts to make our voices heard in Brussels, Geneva, New York. We remain mobilised to reiterate the fundamental importance of protecting the variety of expression.

We must make this vision of culture a living and tangible concept, directly applicable, to all, at all times and in all places.

Europe was able to speak with a single voice in talks to draw up the international UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, that just has been signed. This convention represents the first international instrument for the support of diversity in creative works. It would be paradoxical and ultimately tragic for Europe to undo at home what it has helped elaborate elsewhere.

It would be incomprehensible if, in its own territory, Europe failed to defend cultural diversity with even greater ambition, sincerity and forcefulness, when dealing with operators who disseminate audiovisual and cinematographic works. The future of creation, its pluralism, vitality and richness are at stake.

Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Marco Tullio Giordana
Francis Girod
Agnieszka Holland
Francesco Maselli
Maria de Medeiros
Radu Mihaileanu
Claude Miller
Manoel de Oliveira
Edgar Reitz
Volker Schlöndorff
Ettore Scola
Danis Tanovic
Bertrand Tavernier
Paolo and VittorioTaviani
Fernando Trueba
Liv Ulmann
Margarethe Von Trotta
Andrej Wajda