France: France staged a last-ditch fight yesterday to win a "cultural exception" from free trade in a proposed EU constitution, to protect its film and television industry from Hollywood.
French government representative Ms Pascale Andreani claimed widespread backing among EU governments for Paris's drive to have a national right of veto on trade decisions involving transport, culture, education and health services enshrined in the document, due to be completed today.
"It's not about introducing unanimity into this area but maintaining it. We want to keep the current situation and we are many," she told the Convention on the Future of Europe.
The 105-member forum of national and European parliamentary and government representatives is holding its final session this week to tidy up the proposed constitution which it began drafting in February 2002. French officials said 12 EU governments backed its bid, although the Finnish and Dutch government delegates spoke out against it.
Paris has battled for more than a decade to maintain quotas on the broadcasting of European films and TV programmes to protect its cultural sector against the mass entertainment power of the US film majors. The issue is politically sensitive because of the public engagement of leading French intellectuals and showbusiness personalities.
Sources in the steering presidium said the French were likely to achieve partial satisfaction on the cultural issue, as Germany did on maintaining national control over quotas for migrant labour on Tuesday.
They predicted that the presidium would add a clause saying the voting rules should not prejudice maintaining cultural diversity. - (Reuters)