Other actions - European Audiovisual Observatory
European Audiovisual Observatory
The European Audiovisual Observatory is an Institution created in the legal form of a Partial Agreement of the Council of Europe. All member States of the Union, along with other countries also member of the Council of Europe, are parties to the Agreement.
The EU - represented by the Commission - is also a member of the Observatory
and will participate in the Observatory's activities until at least 2013.
Observatory activities
The Observatory collects, prepares and distributes relevant information on the audiovisual sector in Europe, especially on:
• markets (statistical and qualitative analysis)
• relevant laws and legal rulings
• financing (films and television programmes)
• information mapping (who informs about what).
European audiovisual observatory publications include:
• IRIS-Legal Observations of the European Audiovisual Observatory
• the Statistical Yearbook - Film, Television, Video & New Media in Europe
• five additional publication lines on selected aspects of the audiovisual industry.
The Observatory website also hosts a number of economic and legal databases.
- MAVISE - Database on television channels and television companies in the European Union
- IRIS Merlin - Database on legal information relevant to the audiovisual sector in Europe
- KORDA - Database on public funding for the film and audiovisual sector in Europe
- LUMIERE - Database on admissions for films released in Europe
Based in Strasbourg, the Observatory has its own staff of experts and a network of partners and information providers who are all specialists in their field.
Report on Community participation
In 2007, the Commission published a report on EU participation in the Observatory, covering the period of its membership up until then. See also the related working document.
European Parliament Resolution
On February 2009 the European Parliament adopted a
Resolution on the Community participation in the Observatory where it
recognizes the importance of the Observatory activities and calls to further
extend them.