Trade talk culture clash looms

France, EU making plans to keep 'cultural diversity'

By MICHAEL WILLIAMS

PARIS -- French Culture Minister Catherine Trautmann has said that she believes the European Union is going into next month's round of international trade talks in Seattle better prepared than ever to keep culture off the negotiating table.

As the Nov. 30 World Trade Organization talks edge nearer, Trautmann held an impromptu press briefing Thursday, designed largely to reaffirm French opposition to allowing a U.S. domination of such cultural sectors as film and television.

Under pressure from Paris, the European Union this week agreed to refuse to make any offer to liberalize audiovisual services during the three-year trade discussions. The European stance is based on the understanding that Europe wants to maintain "cultural diversity."

Trautmann noted that the European Union wants its member states to be able to "preserve and develop their capacity to define and put into practice their cultural and audiovisual policies."

France's defense of "cultural diversity" has raised some eyebrows. Patrick Le Lay, chairman of the country's leading terrestrial broadcaster TF1 and longtime opponent of over-regulation, noted on Thursday, "The French State ... has spent its time eliminating all culture which is not the strict national culture. As a Breton, I should know."

Deep-rooted fear

The French position is driven by a deep-rooted fear that the United States wants to use the trade liberalization argument to sweep away European (and particularly French) financial support for its television and film industry. The EU currently has its Television Without Frontiers directive, which includes setting quotas requiring broadcasters to program a majority of Euro product.

Having fought tooth and nail in defense of culture during the General Agreement of Trade and Tariffs talks of the early 1990s, the French are championing the cause once again.

And there is no doubting who the perceived enemy is in Seattle.

U.S. film reps, such as Motion Picture Association of America president Jack Valenti, insist that Hollywood is not interested in trying to do away with broadcasting quotas or state support for film production, distribution or exhibition.

However, Trautmann accused Washington of trying to muscle prospective WTO members into accepting the idea of audiovisual liberalization if they want to be allowed into the international body. "If the Television Without Frontiers directive no longer poses a problem (for the U.S.), why is there such pressure?" she asked.

Trautmann also indicated that she supports the idea of defending culture, even when it is carried on the Internet -- a position that TF1 chairman Le Lay described as "a fantasy of the French administration. We're surely not going to impose quotas on the 'Net."