France Resists U.S. Trade Talks Over TV and Film Concerns
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Version 0 of 1. BRUSSELS — France’s insistence on protecting its state-sponsored film and television industry could create snags in the European Union’s preparations for trade talks with the United States, according to trade officials here. Ministers and diplomats were trying Wednesday to head off a showdown at a meeting planned for Friday by the Union’s 27 trade ministers. The ministers plan to decide whether to give the European Commission, the Union’s executive arm, formal authority to start negotiating a trans-Atlantic trade pact that President Barack Obama opened the way for in February. ‘'The French obviously continue to hold out, and there isn’t agreement at this point,'’ Richard Bruton, the Irish minister for jobs, enterprise and innovation, said by telephone on Wednesday. The hope had been that a unanimous decision at the meeting Friday would enable the United States and Britain to hail the official start of the trade talks when the Group of 8 biggest economies hold a summit meeting that gets underway Monday in Northern Ireland. ‘'We’re trying to accommodate the French insofar as we can,'’ said Mr. Bruton, who is leading efforts to broker a deal with France. ‘‘But we’re also conscious that other member states have a view that the more a mandate has carve-outs, the more you narrow the base on which a deal can be done, and the more risk you have of other things being taken off the table in which Europe has an interest.'’ A trade pact would aim to cut tariffs and streamline regulations between Europe and the United States, which are already the world’s two biggest trading partners. France and the other 26 European nations have the power to veto the start of the trade talks, but France is digging in its heels on protecting its film and television industries from foreign competition. The French prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, told the French Parliament on Wednesday that France ‘'would go as far as using its right of veto'’ to protect its cultural industries. Intense lobbying on the issue from the other side has begun by American technology and media companies, including the online movie distributor Netflix, which want easier access to European markets. The core issue for countries like France is the ‘'control of the digital space and the implications of the evolution of the digital economy, for culture,'’ a senior European diplomat said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the effort to reach a deal with France. ‘'The reality is that the global market is currently dominated by U.S. operators, and that is why it is such a sensitive issue,'’ said the diplomat. He cited Google, Apple and Netflix among the leading American companies in markets where European competitors, not only French ones, lag far behind. Britain, Sweden and Denmark are strongly in favor of giving negotiators a broad mandate, including in movies and other media, to reach a more comprehensive deal. Those countries see advantages in opening up protected and potentially lucrative sectors like transporting goods along the U.S. coastline, and opening American government procurement markets at both the federal and state levels. But in France, filmmakers are among those describing the stakes in stark terms. Using media as a bargaining chip ‘'breaks deeply held European beliefs and jeopardizes our cultural identity, particularly in the online world, for incredibly short-term and tactical gains,'’ said Frédéric Goldsmith, the general manager of the Association des Producteurs de Cinéma, an industry group in Paris representing small and midsize feature film production companies. France is not entirely isolated. Belgium could be a supporter of its insistence on protecting ‘'cultural diversity,'’ a concept safeguarded inEurope’s treaties and laws. Hungary and Greece might also support France, trade officials said. But many say the French are by far the touchiest on the issue because their concerns might go well beyond protecting movies and television programs, extending to concerns that the French way of farming and standards for food imports could be threatened by a more uniform trans-Atlantic approach to commerce. Meanwhile, American companies like Netflix hope to use the trade negotiations with Europe to remove barriers erected over the years to hold back a full-scale invasion from Hollywood. Netflix is apparently among companies seeking to stream movies in Europe without being required to show locally sponsored films and programs as well. Joris Evers, the director of global communications for Netflix, based in Los Gatos, Calif., said in response to questions by e-mail that he would not go ‘'into detail on whether or not we have what type of activity in Brussels at this time.'’ But Mr. Evers said that the company planned ‘'to add another European market before the end of the year.'’ He declined to specify the market that Netflix would enter. |