04/02/2003

The second edition of the "International Meeting" for cultural organisations from all over the world are scheduled to end on Tuesday, 4 February. The three-day event was organised in Paris by the Cultural Diversity Watchdog Committee.
Set up in 1997 to combat the Multilateral Agreement on investments (GATT), and headed by the DG of SACD, Olivier Carmet, the Cultural Diversity watchdog committee is an umbrella organisation that represents international cinema, television, live entertainment, publishing, music and the visual arts companies and institutions. This Meeting was attended by over 300 industry representatives from 35 countries. The aim of the meeting was to encourage countries to reject the inclusion in the current WTO talks of all matters of a cultural nature.
This sentiment was echoed by French President, Jacques Chirac when he addressed the participants in the Meeting on Sunday at the Elysée Palace. He said that "culture must not bow its head before commerce" and proposed the adoption – by 2005 – of a "worldwide convention about cultural diversity". Chirac came out in favour of the appeal of the Committee’s appeal for the protection and preservation of cultural diversity that has already been signed by some 200 artists including the following filmmakers : Chantal Ackerman, Claude Berri, Michel Deville, Costa-Gavras, the brothers Dardenne, Jacques Doillon, Nicole Garcia, Amos Gitaï, Robert Guédiguian, Cédric Klapisch, Coline Serreau, Jean-Paul Rappeneau, Bertrand Tavernier and Andrzej Wajda.

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(Translated from French)