Berlin, 15-16 October 2004
1. The conference on “Transfrontier co-operation in regional Media in Europe” took place on 15 and 16 October 2004 in Berlin, Germany. Experts from the media, specialised professions and academic institutions - from 40 different countries - took part in the conference;
2. The conference was jointly organised by the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (the Congress) and Prix Europa, with the support of the Parliament and the Government of Berlin;
3. The conference participants examined the following themes:
a. The importance and relevance of media, mass media and regional media for Europe;
b. The key role of regional media, broadcasting TV, internet and radio in strengthening Europe ;
c. The relationship between regional authorities and broadcasting organisations, including the legal framework for such relationships;
d. Political and cultural pluralism in European regional media;
e. Transfrontier co-operation between regional media organisations;
4. Following their discussions, participants at the conference wish to draw attention to the following considerations:
5. Underlining the highly symbolic value of Berlin for this conference;
- in a city where the Wall dividing Europe has been brought down by the people, 15 years ago;
- in a radio and TV station which was defended in most difficult times and which is today engaged in overcoming barriers between citizens living in East or West, between local and immigrant communities, and between different religious communities.
6. Wish to express their gratitude to the host authorities in Berlin, Prix Europa and to the Council of Europe’s Congress for having organised the above conference;
7. Express the belief that media organisations should give a high priority to developing and strengthening transfrontier co-operation in Europe;
8. Determined to protect and promote the fundamental values underpinning the European construction - namely human rights, democracy and the rule of law, and in particular freedom of expression and information;
9. Resolved to enhance the essential role of regional media in the creation of a pluralistic approach to cultural, linguistic and religious identity and diversity;
10. Recalling the commitment of the member states to the fundamental right to freedom of expression, as guaranteed by Article 10 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;
11. Reaffirming that the right to freedom of expression and information constitutes one of the essential foundations of a democratic and pluralistic society and one of the basic conditions for its progress and for the development of every individual as expressed in the Declaration on the Freedom of Expression and Information of 29 April 1982;
12. Noting the importance of the changes which have taken place in broadcasting since the 1st European Ministerial Conference on Mass Media Policy, held in Vienna on 9 and 10 December 1986, and in particular the emergence of the mixed system of public and commercial broadcasting;
13. Stressing the importance of public service broadcasting for democratic societies;
14. Recognising therefore the need to guarantee the permanence and stability of public service broadcasting so as to allow it to continue to operate in the general interest;
15. Stressing that the media, and in particular the public service broadcasting sector, should enable different interest groups in society - including linguistic, social, economic, cultural or political minorities - to express themselves;
16. Underlining the vital function of public service broadcasting as an essential factor of pluralistic communication accessible to everyone;
17. Recalling the importance of radio and stressing its great potential for the development of democratic societies, particularly at the regional and local level;
18. Stressing that the Council of Europe has an essential role to play in promoting mutual understanding between people with different cultural and religious backgrounds, both within European societies and between Europe and other regions;
19. Noting that the existence of a multiplicity of autonomous and independent media outlets at national, regional and local levels generally enhances pluralism and democracy;
Also aware that:
With regard to co-operation between transfrontier areas:
20. This co-operation makes a significant contribution to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage, and to the achievement of sustainable regional development. Such co-operation also promotes international peace and understanding, and makes an important contribution to the development of a common Europe;
21. This being so, the importance of community involvement in the planning/management of transfrontier regions is widely acknowledged. In transfrontier regions in particular, local communities often reside on each side of the border and move - or desire to move - freely across the national border. As such, local people play a fundamental role in transfrontier co-operation by promoting and supporting minority languages and cultural diversity, as well as by strengthening a sense of regional and local identity. Independent and diversified local and regional media are effective in fostering a good understanding of pluralistic democracy. Therefore, local people should be involved from the outset;
With regard to regulatory authorities:
22. Member states establish regulatory authorities for the broadcasting sector in different ways, and consequently there is diversity with regard to the means by which independence, effective powers and transparency are achieved. It is important that member states should guarantee that the regulatory authorities for the broadcasting sector are completely independent through a set of rules covering all aspects of their work, and through measures enabling them to perform their functions effectively and efficiently;
Recommends that local, regional and national authorities:
- encourage transfrontier co-operation;
- encourage the diffusion ("must carry rule") and the development of multi- and bilingual radio and television programmes, in particular in border areas;
- conclude agreements at local and regional levels between media organisations to foster joint projects based on the initiatives taken by officials at local and regional level;
- co-operate in order to promote awareness and information on cultural and other activities on both sides of natural borders as a means to promote better understanding;
- develop transfrontier multi- and bilingual newspapers/magazines containing information on border regions;
- use the internet and new technologies for transfrontier co-operation in the media field (i.e.: Interreg IIIB Alpine Space Programme, Media Alp);
Requests the Council of Europe:
- To encourage its member states to develop transfrontier co-operation programmes (by supporting exchanges of journalists, editors, programmes, co-productions, etc);
- To consider the possibility of formulating specific criteria for Regional media policy, especially in border regions, through a specific protocol to the Council of Europe Outline Convention on Transfrontier Co-operation between Territorial Communities of Authorities and the revision of the Council of Europe Convention on Transfrontier Television;
- To co-operate with the Media Division, in particular with the Steering Committee on the Mass Media, and the European Audiovisual Observatory;
- To take note of the results of the present Conference and incorporate them into the report to be prepared for the 2005 Session of the Congress;
- To pursue the dialogue undertaken in Berlin next year at the 8th European Conference of Border Regions in Lutsk (Ukraine), jointly organised by the Congress and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe;
- To pursue the development of transfrontier co-operation, in particular with regions in non-member states of the European Union, in order to avoid the creation of new dividing lines;
- To evaluate the possibility of launching a "European Year of the Regions", a "European year of decentralised democracy", in 2008;
Invites the European Union:
- To encourage specific strategies and financing models adapted to small and multilingual countries;
- To give importance to the promotion of transfrontier co-operation and the implementation of joint projects in towns divided by national frontiers which constitute a single urban unit;
- To develop a coherent and flexible policy for its future external borders in order to ensure that enlargement does not damage but, on the contrary, promotes transfrontier co-operation and in doing so to collaborate with the Council of Europe;
- To quickly adopt the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union establishing a European grouping of cross-border co-operation (EGCC) and to promote its implementation by the competent regional and local authorities (COM (2004) 496);
- To develop an incentive system for the translation (adaptation, doubling) of regional productions in order to favour their broadcasting across borders;
- To develop training for experts working in regional European television;
- To consider the cases of small and multicultural countries and transborder regions in the revision of the EU Directive on Television without Borders.