14/03/2003

Yesterday evening, 13 March, the European Parliament voted in favour of maintaining the defences that currently protect Europe’s film and audiovisual industries against the onslaught of the more commercially-minded Hollywood. The EU’s governing body ruled that the European member states must continue subsidising their film and audiovisual production and distribution sectors, and set programming quotas for both public and private TV channels. The decision to protect the cultural diversity of Europe’s film and audiovisual sectors was made because the World Trade Organisation (WTO ) is currently renegotiating its General Agreement in Trade in Services (GATS) and America is lobbying to remove what it sees as an unfair protectionist movement in Europe.