In a letter addressed to Thorbjørn Jagland, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Neelie Kroes, vice-President of the European Commission, recently confirmed the position of the European Commission with regard to the draft second amended protocol to the European Convention on Transfrontier Television. The letter underlines that the European Union has exclusive competence for the issues covered by the draft revised Convention and that EU member States are not allowed to become party to the Convention on their own. The letter furthermore indicates that the EU does not intend to become a party to the Convention as this would constrain the speed and scope of any future policy response in the areas covered.
For its part, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe endorsed proposals by the Secretary General for priorities in 2011 which included, in particular, to discontinue work on trans-frontier television following the termination of the negotiations of the Convention. This was confirmed by the Committee of Ministers when adopting the Programme of Activities and budget for 2011.