France Wants to Slam Europe’s Open Door to U.S. TV

The rally was called by an organization with a French revolutionary name, the States General of Culture, and the several hundred French screenwriters, actors and directors gathered in the old Mogador Theater were in a rebellious mood.

However, the main target of their wrath Monday night was not the Bourbon monarchy, but the American television industry.

They were assembled in a last-minute appeal to the government to change its mind about a compromise decision it made in the European Commision last month to eliminate quotas on non-European--mainly American--programs on European television. A critical vote on the proposed “Television Without Borders” project of the European Commission is scheduled for Thursday or Friday in Brussels.

For years, a large segment of the French film community, including such famous actors and directors as Jean-Paul Belmondo and Claude Berri, has called for a quota on non-European content of televised features. The artists see the quota as a protective measure for their national industries, especially when the commission-sponsored “Television Without Borders” project takes effect in 1992.

Most members of the 12-nation European Community, particularly Britain and West Germany, opposed the quota system.

But until recently, the French government had backed the artists in their demands, calling for 60% European content. Because news, sports, commercials and even such things as quiz shows would not be counted in the formula, the quota would mainly affect television series and feature films, the main imports from the United States.

On March 13 in Brussels, the French government gave up the fight, agreeing to a vaguely worded proposition that only requires that European television networks “whenever possible, by means available,” attempt to achieve a majority of European produced programming.

“France was totally isolated on this point,” Edith Cresson, French minister for European affairs, explained in an interview in the newspaper Le Monde. Cresson, who has been the object of fierce criticism in the French press for giving up the quota, said the government decided not to exercise its veto.”

However, the States General of Culture, which claims to represent more than 6,000 artists in France and Europe, urged Cresson to reconsider, using the veto if necessary, when members of the Council of European Ministers meet again later this week.

“The March 13 decision,” said States General leader Jack Ralite, a former Communist Party minister in government, “is a virtual coup d’etat against the cultures of European countries.”

He and other impassioned speakers at the Mogador Theater, including actor Claude Pieplu, singer Guy Beart and actress Genevieve Fontanel, portrayed a bleak future for the already troubled European film industry if “Television Without Borders” is implemented without a quota system.

The organization claims that more than 60% of all films distributed in Europe originate from the United States, an increase of 50% in the last decade. In addition, they say that more than 40% of all audio-visual purchases consist of purchases of American programs by Europeans.

Despite the appeal, officials in Brussels said Tuesday tat they think the full text of the proposal will be approved this week “with only minor changes.”