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To mark the end of the European Commission’s consultation on the Lamy Report, European employers and employees from the creative and cultural industry join forces in the Wider Spectrum Group and call for spectrum policy to be a pillar of an ambitious industrial strategy for Europe’s creative and cultural sector.

Access the full declaration form the menu "related files" or by clicking here and visit www.widerspectrum.org for more information.

Brussels, 12 April 2015 - Europe’s unique audiovisual model sustains its creative and cultural sector’s economy and jobs. It is a huge asset for Europe’s competitive position in the digital world, cultural diversity and media pluralism. The creative and cultural sector is a leading employer and value driver in Europe. As such, it deserves a strong industrial strategy that reinforces the pillars it rests on. Spectrum allocation is one of those pillars. Free-to-air TV and radio make available to the general public local, diverse and plural European works and information.

250 million Europeans choose television via the digital terrestrial television (DTT) broadcasting platforms as one of their preferred means of media consumption. 80% of the EU population listens to the radio for 2 to 3 hours a day, mostly through broadcasting (analogue and digital). Programme Making and Special Events – radio microphones, wireless “in ear” monitor system, and wireless communication systems – are also increasingly concerned.

The Lamy report to the European Commission, “Results of the work of the high level group on the future use of the UHF band (470-790 MHz), September 2014”, amongst others, made explicit the need for a change of mindset from platform convergence to co-existence in the sense of simultaneous deployments of terrestrial broadcasting and mobile broadband platforms. So as to meet different consumer expectations, support Europe’s cultural diversity, foster original content creation, promote media pluralism and sustain the development of inclusive audiovisual and radio sectors.

European employers and employees from the creative and cultural industry stand to support Europe’s fresh start for growth and jobs as identified in President Juncker’s priorities, that will recognise cultural, creative and media industries as a growth enabler for Europe and as key components of European construction. This includes enshrining guaranteed access to critical resources such as spectrum for services that enable and sustain Europe’s creative industries, to maintain free-to-air as a capacity for citizens to participate in the public discourse, have choice and preserve their local identity.

Amongst its top 3 recommendations, the Wider Spectrum Group calls on European policy-makers to take decisions on critical resources such as spectrum allocation on the basis of a comprehensive examination of the impact on cultural and creative sector growth and jobs. Particularly when forging a consensus on the review of the Radio Spectrum Policy Program (RSPP) which defines common policies within the European Union and for a unified EU approach to global negotiations at the World Radio Conference 2015 (WRC-15) that will take crucial decisions on spectrum matters.

Please direct any further media queries to WSG members. Contact information available here.

The Wider Spectrum Group is composed of the Association of European Radios; The Association of Professional Wireless Production Technologies ; Broadcast Networks Europe ; European Broadcasting Union ; European Federation of Journalists and UNI Global Union - Media Entertainment &Arts.