At the meeting of EU Culture and Audiovisual Ministers in Brussels yesterday, Luxembourg’s secretary of state for culture, Guy Arendt, welcomed a proposed revision of a directive on the supply of audiovisual media services, in light of current market realities. 

For Luxembourg, the revision of the directive is of particular importance, in particular because of the question of the country of origin principle, which is the keystone of the current directive. Enabling the free circulation of audiovisual media services within the EU to benefit the wealth of European cultural offering, this principle has also been a key element that has allowed the growth of the audiovisual industry to flourish in Europe. 

Secretary Arendt welcomed the continuation of this principle in the new proposal and will continue to guide the discussions.

The secretary of state also deplored the proposed possibility of requesting financial contributions for the provision of services across borders. Recognising that the promotion of European works depends above all on the cross-border circulation of these works and that it is necessary to support investment in audiovisual production, Secretary Arendt called for caution regarding the scope.

"The text, In the current state, leaves considerable legal uncertainty and the extension to linear services also seems problematic, as we have no impact study in this regard. That is why we believe it is essential to continue working on the text to find a compromise that does not lead to market fragmentation and respects the country of origin principle”, he said. 

He therefore voted against it with a group of Member States.