§ Baroness Hilton of Eggardonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the outcome of the Culture Council on 24 November.
121WA
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyEU Ministers of Culture met on 24 November 1997 in Brussels. Ministers agreed conclusions on music in Europe which are intended to inform the Commission's thinking as it develops proposals for the future of EU cultural action.
The European Commission presented its proposal for a European Parliament and council decision establishing a Community initiative for the European City of Culture programme.
Ministers held an exchange of views on the selection of a European City of Culture for 2001; the funding of EC cultural action in 1999 to cover the period between the expiry of the Ariane and Kaleidoscope programmes and the establishment of a successor programme.
The council asked the Commission to carry out a study into the reduction of VAT on recordings.
Ministers discussed a proposal for a council decision establishing a European guarantee fund to promote cinema and television production, and follow-up to the Commission Green Paper on the protection of minors and human dignity in the audiovisual and information services.
The council invited the 10 associated countries of central and eastern Europe to participate in a structured dialogue on measures taken and to be taken to prepare new legislation and adapt existing national legislation, to bring it into line with EU audiovisual legislation and to address questions concerning the protection of minors and human dignity in audiovisual services.
Ministers also touched upon the future of digital television, European cities of culture for 1997 and 1998, the UNESCO intergovernmental conference in March 1998 on cultural policies for development, fixed book pricing, co-operation between the EC and the Council of Europe and follow-up action in the cultural field to the Euro-Mediterranean partnership.