Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-12-16-Speech-4-107"
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"en.19991216.3.4-107"2
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"Mr President, in 1998 the European Commission started a procedure intended to conclude a cross-border book price agreement between Germany and Austria.
Through this procedure, which was based on respect for European competition rules, the Commission was actually aiming to challenge the fixed book price system. Among other benefits, this system allows literary production to be supported and the survival of small publishing houses and bookshops to be assured. The European Parliament reacted strongly by adopting virtually unanimously, on 20 November 1998, a resolution which defended fixed book prices and which called on the Commission to bring its Community policy on book price agreements into line with cultural requirements.
Under pressure from the French and German Governments, the Council used Parliament’s position to adopt a resolution on 8 February 1999 demanding, in particular, the continuation of the existing fixed book price systems. The steadfastness shown by the Council and Parliament led the Commission to acknowledge that competition rules could not be systematically applied in the book sector. It therefore confirmed that it had no intention of challenging the contractual agreements concluded in certain Member States or national laws such as the Lange Act in France. Nevertheless, some months later, and after the installation of the new Commission, the Directorate-General for Competition is once again pushing the Commission to act against cross-border agreements and fixed book prices.
Faced with this new offensive by the Commission, which is bent on deregulation, it was important to react very quickly. I am therefore delighted about this debate and the new position being taken by the European Parliament on this issue. In its motion for a resolution, my group stresses that books are primarily cultural assets and must not therefore be subject to the competition rules in the same way as all other goods. Their unique nature must be fully recognised in the context of the EU’s cultural policy which we are trying to develop. This is why we hope that Parliament will confirm its position of November 1998 in order to defend cross-border agreements and fixed book prices. Why will the Commission not take up our proposal to extend the fixed book price system to all Member States? In order to take account of technological developments, the directive on e-commerce should also include the requirements indicated by the various national laws on fixed book prices to prevent this system from being circumvented.
To conclude, I hope that the Council will show the same steadfastness as this House in protecting and promoting the fixed book price system. This system, as noted by our motion for a resolution, is better than any other at improving the production and distribution of literary works without eliminating competition."@en1
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