The Hungarian delegation at the meeting said it looked forward to cooperating with the two other cities with which it will share the title. Already, Hungarian officials have started cooperating with officials in the German city of Essen, Arató said.
In October, Hungarian House Speaker Katalin Szili and her German counterpart Norbert Lammert agreed to form a partnership in preparing Pécs and Essen to share the title.
In addition to endorsing Pécs, Essen and Istanbul for the title, the EU culture ministers discussed the role of culture in the economy. They noted that 3 percent of the EU?s workforce works in the culture and creative sector, which boasts an output exceeding that of the food or beverage industry. The sector will soon be included in the Lisbon Strategy, the EU?s action programme to improve competitiveness, they said.
Chief media-advisor to the Prime Minister?s Office Ildikó Sarkadi said the meeting of ministers had ?reached a milestone? on EU regulation of audiovisual media services. According to the majority decision ? which Hungary supported ? the directive follows the principle of origin country, which means the state where a broadcaster is based or where editorial decisions are made is authorised to handle all matters that are subject to debate. After a lengthy discussion, the ministers decided that the internet should not be included under the directive, rather it should be applicable mainly to traditional, television-type media services.
Sarkadi added that advertising regulations would be eased for on-demand programming services and restrictions would be lifted on the length of commercials per hour of programming. At the same time, however, most ministers agreed that children?s programmes should be free of commercial breaks. This opinion was shared by Hungary.
The directive is expected to be finalised next spring, during Germany?s EU presidency.
The meeting of ministers will continue on Tuesday, with the focus to be on education, Arató said. Subjects to be discussed include measures necessary for a closer cooperation between educational institutions and businesses, as well as ways to involve extra resources in higher education. The ministers will also discuss how the European Technological Institute, a planned EU research centre, can contribute to promoting cooperation between scientific enterprises and learning institutions to better create a knowledge-based society in Europe.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
