Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council

Hugh Robertson Excerpts

Thursday 15th December 2011 Written Statements

[The Minister for Sport and the Olympics (Hugh Robertson)]

A meeting of the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council was held on 28-29 November. The UK was represented by the Deputy Permanent Representative to the EU, Andy Lebrecht, for the culture and audio-visual section of the Council. The Scottish Minister for Commonwealth Games and Sport, Shona Robison MSP, represented the UK for the sport section.

Culture and Audio-visual Section

The Council adopted a decision on the signing of the convention on the legal protection of services based on, or consisting of, conditional access. This convention is an instrument of the Council of Europe which entered into force in 2003 and its regulatory framework is almost identical to the one set out in Council directive 98/84/EC.

The aim of the two legal instruments is to establish legal protection against piracy of technological systems of pay-TV, video-on-demand, etc. They cover both TV and radio broadcasting services and also transmission by internet. After the signature of the convention, the Council will proceed with the proposal for a decision on concluding the convention, which will be sent to the European Parliament with the request for its consent.

Ministers considered that the ratification of the convention by the EU will contribute to raising its profile, encouraging ratification by other countries (only nine countries have so far ratified it, four of which are EU members), and thus extending the legal protection for paid services beyond the borders of the EU. A number of UK TV content providers have stressed the importance of being able to extend the number of countries which co-operate to enforce the legislation on conditional access and thereby to limit piracy in the pay-TV sector. The signing of the convention should support the growth of this important part of the UK digital economy.

The Commission entered two statements to the Council minutes, one regarding the legal base and EU exclusive competence to accede to the convention and another concerning the final clauses of the convention, in particular the voting of amendments and the acceptance of new contracting parties.

The UK supported the adoption of this Council decision but intervened to table a statement at the Council to record its view that, even in the absence of the citation of a legal base in treaty on the functioning of the European Union (TFEU) Title V, the European Union’s competence to enter into the JHA obligations, which form a small part of the convention, derives from TFEU Title V and accordingly the UK will be bound by virtue of the fact that it has exercised its opt-in under Protocol No. 21 to the treaty on European Union (TEU).

The Council adopted conclusions on the protection of children in the digital world. The conclusions underline the need to educate children as well as their parents and teachers about how to be safe online. Furthermore, the conclusions also call upon the audio-visual industry to design their services and products so that the protection of minors is fully taken into account. These conclusions were adopted without further discussion.

The Council adopted conclusions on cultural and creative competences and their role in building intellectual capital of Europe. The UK supported the adoption of these conclusions which address the development of synergies between culture and creativity on the one hand, and education, youth, research, business and innovation on the other.

There was a ministerial debate on the contribution of the cultural and creative sectors to growth and job creation, focusing in particular on the need for reliable and comparable statistics at European level to better inform policy making. There was universal acceptance of culture’s link to economic growth, as well as the strong need for data in this area. The UK outlined the importance of these sectors to our economy, including exports, and noted that this is an area where Europe has a clear comparative advantage. A number of delegations recalled that as well as economic growth, culture also has a vital role to play in developing social cohesion. A number of member states observed that this work could make a key contribution to the EU 2020 strategy. While there was widespread support for the Commission’s approach to improving data measurement, member states stressed that this should be done in a light-touch way by building as far as possible on existing data and mechanisms.

Under Any Other Business, the presidency provided information on the state of play concerning the procedural arrangements for the appointment of the European panel for the European Union action for the European Heritage Label (EEL). The panel will consist of 13 experts, responsible for selecting sites to be awarded the EHL and for their subsequent monitoring. Four of them are to be appointed by the Council for a three-year period. The Commission presented its recommendation on the digitisation and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation. The Commission also presented its proposal for the creative Europe programme which is a new support programme for the cultural and creative sectors, bringing together the current culture, MEDIA and MEDIA Mundus programmes. The Danish delegation outlined their priorities for their forthcoming presidency, in particular examining the new creative Europe programme, developing the cultural dialogue with third countries and promoting digitisation.

Sports Section

The Council adopted a resolution on the representation of the EU member states in the foundation board of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the co-ordination of the EU and its member states’ positions prior to WADA meetings. The resolution establishes the practical arrangements concerning the participation of the European Union and its member states in the work of WADA, namely the preparation, negotiation and adoption inter alia of rules, standards and guidelines by the agency. The UK’s concerns over the wording around the co-ordination process and the presentation of the EU position on anti-doping matters were taken into account during the negotiation of the text and the UK was therefore able to support the adoption of the resolution.

The Council adopted conclusions on the role of voluntary activities in sport in promoting active citizenship. The UK supported the adoption of these conclusions which seek to raise awareness of the value and importance of volunteering and improve conditions for the development of voluntary activities in sport.

The Council adopted conclusions on combating match fixing, aiming to foster close co-operation and information sharing between member states, the Commission, the sports world and gambling operators in order to counteract this dangerous trend. The UK supported these Council conclusions which recognise that match fixing is a threat to the very integrity of sport.

The Council held a policy debate on good governance in sport. Autonomy, transparency and responsibility were cited as key elements of good governance, though several member states noted that autonomy should not mean that sports organisations are exempt from law. A number of member states welcomed the contribution that the sub-programme for sport, in the Commission proposal for the “Erasmus for all” programme, will make to tackling match fixing and other threats to sport. The UK welcomed the work on good governance and the upcoming expert group which it will co-chair but stressed that good governance should not be dictated by Government.

Under Any Other Business, the Commission presented its proposal for the Erasmus for all programme, the new EU programme for education, training, youth and sport for the period 2014-2020. The UK presented a short promotional film on the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games. The Danish delegation presented the incoming presidency’s priorities which include examining the sport section of the Erasmus for all programme, combating doping and match fixing, developing good governance issues and enhancing voluntary activities.