EU ministers press France over US free trade talks
Image © Sergio J Lievano - Fotolia
(LUXEMBOURG) - EU ministers sought Friday to convince France that its prized 'cultural exception' could be safely included in the mandate for free trade talks with the United States after Paris insisted again it would not budge.
France "rejects this mandate," French Commerce Minister Nicole Bricq told her EU colleagues.
"France will refuse any mandate which does not come with protection of the cultural sector and a clear and explicit exclusion of the audiovisual sector," Bricq told her colleagues in opening remarks.
Washington says no areas should be excluded and EU officials have repeatedly warned that any exceptions will only hand the US an early bargaining chip in what promise to be very tough negotiations.
At the same time, ministers are under great pressure to agree the guidelines on which the European Commission will negotiate the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) so the talks can be formally launched at next week's G8 meeting.
Washington and Brussels hope the TTIP will deliver a major boost to growth and jobs, especially in Europe where the debt crisis has left the economy stuck in the doldrums.
An accord would be the world's largest Free Trade Agreement, with bilateral trade in goods last year worth some 500 billion euros ($670 billion), another 280 billion euros in services and trillions in investment flows.
The EU says it would add some 119 billion euros annually to the EU economy, with 95 billion euros for the United States.
While France and the cultural sector dominated the opening, ministers also have to review other issues Friday, not least a series of trade disputes with China which have also exposed deep differences within the EU -- notably between Berlin and Paris.
Minister Richard Bruton of Ireland, which holds the current EU presidency, said after the opening exchanges that his colleagues would return to the issue of the US free trade talks mandate in the afternoon.
Bruton acknowledged France's special concerns and said all member states were "looking for a consensus."
"We have made a lot of changes to give confidence that the audiovisual sector will be protected," he said.
In an effort to convince France all will be well, the Commission has offered Paris a right of review and approval of any decisions taken on the cultural sector.
Earlier, Bruton had described this provision as an "opening position" to be discussed further, noting it was in addition to an earlier compromise that would ring-fence the audiovisual sector in the US talks to further protect them.
Bricq did not directly address this possibility, which the Commission had touted as an important concession, and noted that when the EU approved a mandate for free trade talks with Japan last year, the cultural sector was excluded.
An EU source said of the morning discussions that "a large majority were in favour" of the mandate on the table but the decision has to be unanimous among all 27 member states.
"I don't know what the solution is going to be," said the source, who asked not to be named.
Germany, which has found itself opposed to France on several issues in recent months, emphasised the need for compromise and said Paris should give some ground.
"France should move a bit ... (we all) have to do that from time to time," said Anne Ruth Herkes, the top official in the German trade ministry.
"We are all for cultural diversity ... but the German economy, Europe and the world would benefit from a free trade deal with the United States," she said.
France jealously guards it cultural sector, with French TV stations required to air at least 40-percent home produced content while another 20 percent must come from Europe before American TV soap operas even get a look in.
Cinema-goers pay a levy on each ticket to help fund the French film industry which many believe could not survive without such support in the face of Hollywood's dominance.