21/02/2013 - Negotiations between the United States and the European Union surrounding an agreement on free trade will soon take place. An agreement which could threaten the European audiovisual sector

Last week,  Barack Obama, President of the United States, José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, and Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, announced the opening of negotiations concerning a free-trade agreement between the European Union and the United States. An announcement that worries the French Coalition for Cultural Diversity.

The negotiations would ideally take place before June in order to conclude an agreement to become effective in two years at best. This potential agreement has, in fact, already been described as “the most important bilateral commercial contract ever negotiated”, though negotiations already promise to be difficult on sensitive issues such as agriculture, biotechnologies and cultural products.

The audiovisual and cultural sector could therefore be affected, and later, if a deal is reached, even liberalized. The French Coalition for Cultural Diversity has consequently expressed its concern. This Coalition is comprised of professional organisations for culture and defends cultural diversity in the arena of international commercial negotiations. It declared: “The opening of these commercial negotiations carries the risk of calling into question the right of states and groups of states to freely carry out funding policies for cultural creations.” These negotiations could indeed jeopardize current policies in favour of cultural diversity, such as quota and financial support measures, for example. They also represent a case of the famous American Soft Power. If the United States wants to liberalize the audiovisual sector, it is also because their international diplomatic, political and cultural strategies rely in part on their large audiovisual industry.

The French Coalition for Cultural Diversity wants a firm commitment from European states and reminds them that they have signed and ratified a UNESCO convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expression. France has already promised to protect its support systems for audiovisual creation, in the name of cultural exceptions.

(Translated from French)