EU

[Katalin Fabian]

CSO PROPOSALS NEEDED FOR EUROPEAN MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON MASS
MEDIA
POLICY

European civil society organisations involved in the WSIS
process could contribute their proposals in the upcoming Seventh
European Ministerial Conference on Mass Media Policy.

This event will take place in Ukraine from 10 to 11 March 2005.
It will be
conducted by the Council of Europe's (COE) Steering Committee on
the Mass
Media (CDMM). The COE is the continent's oldest political
organisation
created to enact the following:
-- defend human rights, parliamentary democracy and the rule of
law;
-- develop continent-wide agreements to standardise member
countries' social
and legal practices; and
-- promote awareness of a European identity based on shared
values and
cutting across different cultures.

The theme of this conference is "Integration and diversity: the
new
frontiers of European media and communications policy." It is
intended as
a public consultation on the COE's future activities in the
media field.
Thus, media advocates and media-oriented civil society
organisations are
invited to submit proposals detailing their ideas about these
activities.

The main topics of the conference are:
1) freedom of expression and information in times of crisis,
2) cultural diversity and media pluralism in times of
globalisation
3) human rights and regulation of the media and new
communication services
in the Information Society

The CDMM is currently preparing the drafts of the political
declaration,
resolutions on the three main topics, and action plan outlining
priorities
for future work within the Council of Europe in the area of
media law and
policy. These documents are expected to be adopted by the
Ministers at the
conference.

The proposals should be two pages written in English or French.
The
deadline for submitting proposals is on 31 August 2004.

For more information, please contact:
c/o Media Division
Council of Europe
Avenue de l'Europe
67075 Strasbourg Cedex
France
Tel: (33-3) 8841-2000
E-mail: <media at coe.int>
Website: <http://www.coe.int>


Location: France
Deadline: Aug 31, 2004
Website: http://www.coe.int

--
Katalin Fabian
Lafayette College
Department of Government and Law
Kirby Hall 103
Easton, PA 18042-1780

Tel: (610) 330-5392
Fax: (610) 330-5397