EU Position on Audiovisual Services in Talks with Ukraine Raises Concerns

The European Union has been a strong supporter of the UNESCO Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions from the very beginning of the campaign to put in place an international agreement that recognizes the distinctive nature of cultural goods and services and affirms the right of states to apply policies and other measures to support their domestic cultural sectors.

However, its evident willingness to contemplate liberalization commitments covering the audiovisual sector in a current bilateral trade negotiation with the Ukraine has Europe’s cultural milieu concerned that its stance in such trade negotiations could undermine the UNESCO Convention.

In July, Europe’s coalitions for cultural diversity learned that the European Commission had expressed its intention to not exclude audiovisual services from the negotiations with the Ukraine.

Europe’s Coalitions for Cultural Diversity responded collectively in a letter to the EU’s then-Foreign Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson in which they expressed their concerns about the negative consequences this would have on cultural diversity in Europe.

“We are extremely concerned by this proposal by the European Commission, which is in complete contradiction with the position defended by the European Union in its multilateral trade negotiations—all the more so given that this negotiation is with a country that, having expressed its interest in joining the European Union, has not made liberalization commitments on audiovisual services in the context of joining the WTO.

Consequently, the European Coalitions ask that you exclude audiovisual services from the services chapter of this FTA with the Ukraine. In effect, the signature of an FTA containing engagements on audiovisual services would completely call into question the policy of excluding audiovisual services from trade negotiations, and would be contrary to the European Union’s commitments in the context of the Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions.”

The letter was signed by Beat Santschi, Vice President, Europe, for the International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity.

Mr. Mandelson departed the Foreign Trade post in early October to return to cabinet position in the British Labour Government of Gordon Brown, but not before confirming that the European Commission is open to including the audiovisual sector in its negotiations with the Ukraine.

Mr. Mandelson defended the decision to not exclude culture from the talks by stating that this reflected the fact that the proposed “New Enhanced Agreement” with the Ukraine will build on a partnership and cooperation agreement in place since 1998, and “consists of a global political and economic integration agreement fundamentally different from our standard FTAs.”

“One must recall that the EU’s position on audiovisual policy is based on according a preferred status for content of European-origin in a broad sense, i.e. pan-European (Council of Europe) and that preferential treatment may be accorded to European partners with whom an integration process has been initiated.” He also noted that in its WTO accession negotiations, the Ukraine was consistent with the UE position in terms of refraining from commitments on audiovisual services as well as taking Most Favoured Nations (MFN) exemptions necessary for the functioning of structures and programs favouring European content.

However, with respect to the trans-border provision of services (i.e. Modes 1 and 2), Mr. Mandelson stated categorically that the EU would be making no commitments of any kind affecting audiovisual services. But his letter did not rule out commitments under Modes 3 and 4.

He concluded by emphasizing that the EU-Ukraine pact would “in no way constitute a precedent for our future agreements. In a European context, the approach will have to be tailored to the specificities of a given negotiation, notably with respect to the EU’s commitments and MFN exemptions at the WTO.”

The European Coalitions for Cultural Diversity remain concerned about the EU position in these negotiations. Even if broad in scope, the EU-Ukraine talks remain fundamentally a trade negotiation with a country that is not considered to be a candidate for EU membership in the near- or even mid-term future. Making audiovisual commitments in such a negotiation is not only inconsistent with the UNESCO Convention, it contradicts 15 years of EU policy in refraining from such commitments, and it is difficult to see how it would not be viewed as a precedent for similar negotiations in the future.