The 7th Report on the promotion of European audiovisual works (2003-2004), recently published by the General Directorate for the Information Society and the Means of Communication of the Commission, declares that “European television stations dedicate on average over 60% of their programming time to European programmes and over 30% to works of independent European producers”. The percentages vary from 52.75% in Ireland to 86.2% in Denmark for 2003, and from 49.12% of the Czech Republic to 86.33% again in Denmark for 2004%. Showing a considerable increase – well above the minimum level of 10% fixed by the Television Without Frontiers directive – is also the percentage of “works of independent producers transmitted on all the European channels in all member states”. Commenting on the data, the European Commissioner for the information society and the media, Viviane Reding, said, “these figures are proof of the high quality of European audiovisual products, and of the vitality of a sector that derives its strength from the Europe’s richness of cultural diversity”. She also expressed the conviction that “the new media such as mobile TV and video on demand would stimulate the market and further open it up to the supply of quality European programmes”.
