Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-06-Speech-2-060"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20050906.8.2-060"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Mr President, I would like to thank Mr Weber for his willingness to engage in dialogue and for seeking agreement. I firmly believe that democracy is essentially a system of public opinion and that its quality therefore depends on the quality of what we have come to call freedom of expression, a right that not everybody understands properly. For me, freedom of expression is above all the right of each citizen to choose the channels of information he or she prefers. Consequently, in order to safeguard that right we must prevent too many media organisations from falling into the hands of a few, and I entirely agree with you, Mr Weber, on the need to combat the phenomena of concentration, but we must also consolidate a situation in which the media are not subjected to criteria laid down on a whim by the government that happens to be in power at the time.
Ladies and gentlemen, I believe these comments to be very general, and they lead to certain specific considerations which I would like to be implemented in the not too distant future. We must combat all initiatives that reduce the quality of freedom of expression. It is therefore not acceptable to interfere with the content of programmes. Let us stop doing so.
I do not believe that we should dictate to the commercial television channels how to administer their advertising, because advertising is essential to commercial television. They must respect the limit established by law, but we should not lay down how they must distribute advertising, because they know exactly how to make the source of their commercial survival viable.
Mr Weber, we must establish the political objective — and this is where we disagree — of putting an end to a concept that I believe to pose certain difficulties: that of public service. That concept makes sense insofar as spectral space is limited and the governments must therefore regulate it by means of a system of franchises, which in the end become intimidatory. Nevertheless, Mr Weber, you have acknowledged that we are moving towards a world in which television must be redefined, a world in which television means conventional television as we know it, but also television via the Internet, television via mobile phone and television via all the new technologies. It is not therefore a scarce resource, and we must restrict State interventionism. I hope that in the not too distant future, this concept of public service will no longer be applied to commercial television.
I would therefore like us to be able to agree on how to redefine the role of public television channels. They are fundamental, provided they adhere to the principle of subsidiarity, that is to say, that they make the programmes the viewers wish to see and cannot see on the commercial channels. Mr Weber, that is the principle of subsidiarity, which I defend.
In conclusion, Mr President, I believe technologies are changing and that consequently the perspectives are changing too. I also believe it is our responsibility to do our utmost to ensure the new ‘Television without frontiers’ Directive becomes an opportunity to increase the quality of democracy. I would therefore like to express my hope that we do a good job."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples