It is high time to speed up recovery in the media industry

At the online debate organised by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), stakeholders from the audiovisual industry debated Europe's future media market, stressing how crucial the involvement of grassroots organisations is.

Europe's media have been instrumental in keeping people informed and entertained during the coronavirus pandemic. However, audiovisual has been among the most deeply affected sectors in the EU. Its speedy recovery is therefore vital to ensuring an open, democratic and culturally diverse society. This is the message from the event held by the Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society (TEN) in Brussels and remotely on 16 March 2021 to discuss the EU media action plan proposed by the European Commission.

Speaking at the debate, Baiba Miltoviča, president of the TEN section, pointed to the added value of involving organised civil society: The audiovisual sector has been badly affected by the pandemic and must recover quickly and comprehensively. Civil society organisations seek to empower citizens and play a key role in promoting the values of democracy, strengthening media freedom and countering disinformation. This is why we need to invest in digital and media literacy: it is a prerequisite for consuming digital media in COVID-19 times.

A transforming European media market

The news media and the culture and creative sectors have been among the most negatively affected and will recover slowly. News publishing's advertising revenues have fallen between 30% and 80% and those of TV by 20%. Many non-standard workers, in particular artists, freelancers and temporary workers have been in a very vulnerable position. Unemployment has increased, with many media professionals and journalists having no income. Cinemas have suffered a collapse in revenues. Shooting of new films, programmes and TV series has come to a halt.

Mentioning the financial means needed to recover, EESC member Elena-Alexandra Calistru, rapporteur for the ongoing EESC opinion on the Media and Audiovisual Action Plan, said: The proposed financial mechanisms are more diverse than ever, but we must avoid discrepancies between, and especially within, Member States. Account must be taken of the uneven capacity of local news media to access complex financial instruments. Media's digital transformation will not be possible unless the public is prepared. Measures promoting media literacy and civic education are extremely important.

Echoing her words, EESC member Christophe Quarez, president of the study group of the EESC opinion, added: The disinformation industry is attacking liberal democracies. To tackle this, the European Union wants to create a free, diverse and dynamic environment in the media sector. Media are both an economic sector and a public good, and they are essential for providing people with adequate information and for the proper functioning of democracy.

On the same page was EESC member Gonçalo Lobo Xavier, vice-president of the EESC European Semester Group, who underlined the critical role played by the media, especially in the pandemic when many people worked remotely and a good audiovisual industry was needed now more than ever.

What the stakeholders say

Corina Șuteu, representing FilmETC, pointed to the need to bridge the gap between existing audiovisual infrastructure and talents, while Jan Trei, rapporteur for the European Committee of the Regions on the opinion on the same topic, stated that independent local news outlets were the backbone of democracy in society, as they promoted political knowledge and participation.

Referring to media, Ilias Konteas, from the European Newspaper Publishers' Association (ENPA), highlighted that the European press had never been so successful as during the pandemic but that the crisis had also hit publishing houses with a drop in advertising rates.

For her part, Aurore Raoux, News Media Europe, stressed that the news industry had proved capable of adapting and that, although there were new lessons to be learnt, new future challenges would include increased innovation and flexibility.

The issue of ownership of big media groups was raised by Razvan Ionescu, Recorder.ro, who drew attention to the fact that some businesspeople very often used the power of their media to serve specific political and economic interests.

Mentioning the audiovisual sector, Karim Ibourki, European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA), focused on the importance for people of media plurality and diversity, and on the plurality risk present in some Member States.

Jari-Pekka Kaleva, representing the European Games Developer Federation (EGDF), flagged up the problem of funding and access to new markets, which had been limited due to the pandemic restrictions, while Julie-Jeanne Régnault, from the European Association of Film Agencies (EFAD), maintained that we needed to not only recover but also build a better future environment for the audiovisual sector, promoting cultural diversity.

Alexandra Lebret, European Producers Club (EPC), pointed out that it was crucial to be able to invest in future projects that could compete with the US, while having all players sticking to the same robust regulation.

Finally, Mathilde Fiquet, from the European Coordination of Independent Producers (CEPI), talked about the digital transformation and the new business models created by online platforms, while Sónia Oliveira, of the Federation of Associations of Performing Arts Companies (FAETEDA), stated that the focus had to be put on new formats produced by small companies and on training and exchange of best practices at European level.

Current state of play

The future EU media action plan is set out in the Communication "Europe's media in the Digital Decade: an action plan to support recovery and transformation" that was published by the European Commission on 3 December 2020.

In the action plan, the Commission puts forward a comprehensive vision for the media sector with the aim of exploiting the potential of a genuine European media market. The objective is to accelerate the recovery, transformation and resilience of the media industry.

The opinion that the EESC is currently putting together on this matter is due to be discussed at its April plenary session.

For more information on the event and the TEN section's activities, please consult our website.