Three EU Commissioners today jointly launched the so-called “Licenses for Europe” initiative, a drive to find voluntary industry solutions to give impetus to the online content market.

Commissioners Michel Barnier, Neelie Kroes and Androulla Vassiliou want “Licenses for Europe” to encourage a broad range of copyright policy stakeholders, including the EBU, to discuss ways to stimulate creativity, promote culture and increase the circulation of content in the EU.

Launching the initiative today in Brussels, Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services Michel Barnier told representatives of stakeholders from across the copyright value chain, “The ball is now in your court.”

“Licenses for Europe must not, and will not, be a forum for mere discussion,” he asserted. “It must be a place where market stakeholders, including consumers, meet together to find fast, specific solutions to problems arising in the here and now.” 

Commission Vice-President of the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes focused on the need to modernize: “Old practices need to adapt to new digital realities. That calls for real change, and legal and practical solutions,” she said.

For her part, Commissioner for Education and Culture Androulla Vasiliou stressed that copyright remains a way of protecting cultural diversity and rewarding creativity, and urged participants to search for “pragmatic, bottom-up and short-term solutions”.

EBU Members will participate in three of four specialized Working Groups set up for the initiative, namely ‘cross-border access and portability of services’, ‘audiovisual sector and cultural heritage’ and ‘user-generated content and licensing’.

Today the EBU’s Head of Public Affairs Nicola Frank said the EBU welcomed the chance to participate in the process.

She added: “It remains to be seen whether the stakeholder discussions will match the Commission’s ambitious expectations and lead to worthwhile solutions. We also hope that the review of the legal framework for copyright taking place in parallel will be fully transparent.”

Speeches :

Digital technology and copyright can fit together by Neelie Kroes
(Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda)

Culture and copyright in the digital environment by Androulla VASSILIOU
(Member of the European Commission for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth)

Licences for Europe: quality content and new opportunities for all Europeans in the digital era by Michel BARNIER
(Member of the European Commission, responsible for Internal Market and Services)