At a meeting in Brussels on 15 September, the new EBU Presidency declared that public service broadcasters must be at the heart of the digital world for the European Union to attain its Lisbon goals and to make the European Union "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-driven economy by 2010".

"We are in Brussels today because we recognise the importance of the European Union for the future of public service broadcasting," Mr Pleitgen said. "We want to ensure that the EU institutions recognise the importance of public service broadcasting for the future of the European audiovisual landscape and the Lisbon goals". He added: "We call on national and European authorities to put in place regulatory frameworks which have caught up with the new technologies, and recognise the vital role of public service broadcasters in providing quality content on all significant new platforms."

Participating at the 31st meeting of the Presidency were: 

• President Fritz Pleitgen, vice-presidents Boris Bergant, John G. Bernander, Patrick de Carolis and Richard Sambrook.
• Marija Nemcic, chairman of the Television Committee; Gerd Bock, chairman of the Technical Committee; Jane Vizard, chairman of the Legal and Public Affairs Committee and Tomas Roxström, chairman of the Finance Group. Unfortunately Nicholas Kenyon, chairman of the Radio Committee, is unable to attend.
• And representing the EBU Permanent Services: Jean Réveillon, Secretary General, Raina Konstantinova (Radio), Bjørn Erichsen (Television), Stefan Kürten (Eurovision Operations), Phil Laven (Technical), Werner Rumphorst (Legal), Julian Ekiert (Finance) and David Lewis (Governance).        

Left to right: Richard Sambrook, Patrick de Carolis, Fritz Pleitgen, 
Boris Bergant and John G. Bernander

Click here for the press release.

pj / ep