[Ecommerce] EU Consultation on publishing industry launched

[Michelle Childs]

This has obvious relevance for the a2k agenda. Could people let me know if
they are going to respond. Details of where to find the con doc at end of
email.
Thanks
Michelle

<SNIP>Comments by all interested parties are invited, inter alia, on:
obstacles to the take-up of information and communication technologies;
business models, including digital rights management systems; media
ownership structures; differing regulatory traditions (licensed broadcast
media, unlicensed press); and advertising rules.

Brussels, 20 September 2005

What challenges for the publishing industry in the digital age? Commission
opens public consultation

A public consultation on how to enhance the competitiveness of the
publishing sector in the EU=92s increasingly digital economy was launched b=
y
the European Commission today. Replies to this consultation, which are
expected by mid-November 2005, should help EU policy makers to better
understand the needs and challenges of Europe=92s publishing industry.

 Already this Friday, chief editors from eight European newspapers and
magazines from Austria, Denmark, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the
Netherlands, Spain, and the UK will meet in Brussels at the invitation of
Commissioner Reding to brainstorm how the written press in Europe is
addressing the challenges and opportunities arising from online
publishing, digitisation and increased competition in the advertising
markets. The results of the consultation will be presented at a
publishers=92 summit on 6 December in Brussels.

=93The consultation launched today demonstrates the importance the Barroso
Commission is giving to the media industry, and in particular to the
written press=94, commented Information Society and Media Commissioner
Viviane Reding. =93I expect that the outcome of this consultation will give
the industry, but also the EU institutions and national governments a
precise picture of the economic situation of the publishing industry and
of the challenges it is currently facing.=94

The starting point of the consultation launched today is a Commission
study on factors affecting publishing industry competitiveness indicators.
The study indicates that innovation and reform are major challenges facing
the EU publishing industry. Newspapers, for example, are read by over 180
million people across Europe. But their advertising revenue is falling,
their core readership is aged over 45 and younger readers appear to prefer
other media. Digital technologies are fast changing the ways in which
content is created, combined, distributed and consumed.

Comments by all interested parties are invited, inter alia, on: obstacles
to the take-up of information and communication technologies; business
models, including digital rights management systems; media ownership
structures; differing regulatory traditions (licensed broadcast media,
unlicensed press); and advertising rules.

The new Commission =93Task Force on Media Affairs=94 =96 established under =
the
responsibility of Commissioner Reding at the beginning of this
Commission=92s mandate =96 will analyse stakeholder responses. Set up in or=
der
to scrutinise any Commission proposal that could affect the media
industry, this Task Force also contributes where necessary to ex-ante
assessments of their likely impact on the economic foundations and
editorial freedom of the media. It also acts as an =93entry point=94 for sm=
all
players in the media market who wish to raise specific issues with the
Commission.

According to the available official statistics, the EU publishing sector
contributes 0.5% of GDP across the EU 25 Member States, with a daily
output valued at =80121 billion, and value-added amounting to =8043 billion=
 in
the EU 15. Publishing provides nearly 750,000 jobs in 64,000 companies
across the EU 25. This sector comprises a majority of small and
medium-sized enterprises, although firms that employ over 250 people
account for over half the sector=92s total revenue.

Within publishing, newspapers are the most important sub-sector, with
36.8% of production value in 2001, followed by journals and periodicals
(32%) and books 24.6%). Although the over-45s are expected to sustain
newspaper publishing for some years yet, advertising, which commonly
contributes over half a newspaper=92s total revenue, is in slow decline
overall, and in some segments, such as recruitment advertising, is fast
switching to the internet.
The consultation documents can be found at:

http://europa.eu.int/information_society/media_taskforce/publishing/consult=
ation/index_en.htm.
Website of the Commission=92s Task Force on Media Affairs:

http://europa.eu.int/information_society/media_taskforce/index_en.htm.

+ MEMO/05/327



--
Michelle Childs -Head of European Affairs
Consumer Project on Technology in London
24, Highbury Crescent, London, N5 1RX,UK.
Tel:+44(0)207 226 6663 ex 252.
Mob:+44(0)790 386 4642. Fax: +44(0)207 354 0607
http://www.cptech.org

Consumer Project on Technology in Washington, DC
PO Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036, USA
Tel.:  1.202.387.8030, fax: 1.202.234.5176

Consumer Project on Technology in Geneva
1 Route des  Morillons, CP 2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 791 6727