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Verbatim report of proceedings
Wednesday, 9 April 2008 - Brussels OJ edition

Cultural industries in Europe (debate)
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  Guy Bono, rapporteur. (FR) Madam President, Commissioner, I think we should not forget what we are trying to achieve. Despite what some subjective studies would have us believe, it is not the 13% of Europeans downloading cultural content illegally who are threatening our culture, but it seems to me that it is the concentration of our culture in the hands of a few large groups that is damaging our diversity and therefore the richness of our cultural heritage.

I will only give you one example, that of records. Today, 95% of what is distributed comes from the four big record companies. I believe it is important to ensure that consumers have genuine choice and it is necessary to guarantee pluralism of content in a very concentrated market where those chiefly responsible for innovation and creativity are small, not big. You were talking about SMEs, Commissioner, recommending a study which I think is a really interesting idea.

The permission for a merger between Sony and BMG granted by the Commission totally contradicts the European policy to support SMEs in the music industry, which create more jobs than the large companies and represent 99% of the market players and 80% of innovation in this sector. It seems, therefore, that there is an urgent need to support diversity in the cultural sector, which is a genuine driver of growth and a means of development for individuals.

In conclusion, I will say that it is the diversity of culture that makes it rich and not the other way around.

 
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