§ Ms Christine RussellTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make a statement on the outcome of the EU Culture Council on 17 November. [61130]
§ Janet AndersonEU Ministers responsible for cultural and audiovisual issues met on 17 November 1998 in Brussels.
Ministers agreed to extend the funding programmes for the arts, Kaleidoscope, and for literature, Ariane, to 1999. From January 2000, a new single framework programme for culture, entitled Culture 2000, will replace the existing programmes, such as Kaleidoscope and Ariane, as well as Raphael, which covers heritage issues, and a range of other cultural actions. Culture 2000 will enable not only co-operation within traditional sectors, but cross-sectoral co-operation to take place. Ministers agreed a Common Position, subject to final agreement by the Netherlands, which will now be considered by the European Parliament.
Ministers also adopted a Resolution highlighting the important role of public service broadcasting in the digital era, and discussed other issues, including cross-border fixed book price agreements, statistics concerning the audiovisual and related sectors, and the convergence of the telecommunications, media and information technology sectors.