Clusters, Football and TV

Having left home at 8am I get to the Parliament in Brussels at 13.15, just in time to ok some papers, collect some others and head off to chair a seminar at South East England House, a short walk from the Parliament along Rue Luxembourg which passes my flat so I can dump my suitcase en route. Lots of rain so I sit through the seminar with wet trouser bottoms wishing I had put my boots on. The seminar included presentations from the Commission about Regional Funds, the attendees mainly from higher education establishments. The South East has a lot of high technology and although we are ‘too rich’ to qualify for structural funds, we can, and do, get funding for innovation projects. ‘Clusters’ is the buzz word, development of clusters of excellence and seeking out other clusters for co-operation. My childhood home of Harwell is to be developed as one centre of excellence.

17.00 Head back to the Parliament just in time to meet representatives from the Premier League. I never realised that as an MEP I would be so involved with football! Anyway, we discussed the progress of a report being looked at by several committees on the future of professional football. I have already submitted some amendments aimed at ensuring matters stay based at a national level with cooperation on codes of conduct. Some members seem to suggest a European super league and that does not seem practical, how could fans travel all over the EU to games on a weekly basis?

We also discussed the on-going saga of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AMS, also known as Television Without Frontiers). For the sports bodies the issue is ‘short news reporting’ i.e. allowing news programs to show football goals etc. This is currently done by agreement, but finding a way to enforce it cross-border, without breaching copyright, is the problem. I am not at all impressed with the arguments put forward by the Commission and others. However, I have now found a way that satisfies me that it does not breach the Berne Convention and I agree to propose this along with amendments indicating that the Copyright Directive and Berne Convention are not overridden.

18.00 Rummaged around with papers ready for morning, agreed to attend and vote as a substitute in the JURI (legal affairs) committee first thing tomorrow as I was going anyway to listen in to relevant discussions. Left at 19.45 with a copy of the Commission work program for 2007 in order to pick things of interest to the Quoted Companies Alliance ready for Wednesday.