During the general meeting of General Agreement of Trade and Tariff (GATT) negotiations in 1993, the concept of "Cultural Exception" was first introduced by France . The main idea of this concept was that cultural good and services should be not treated as commercial goods in international trade agreements especially at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and later at the UNESCO¹. France was not alone but there were 13 more countries of the European Union (EU) who supported this idea of "Cultural Exception"². France, being a conservation country in terms of culture wanted to protect it utmost and did not want to make their culture as a profit making commodity. In other terms they want to protect their audiovisual services from other countries. .
This concept created various problems between the French government and the Hollywood film industry. Jack Valenti³, former head of Motion Picture Association of America commented during the Uruguay round, "Culture is like a chewing-gum, a product like any other". On the other hand French President Francois Mitterrand4 also commented, "The mind's creations are no more mere commodities and can't be treated as such". They were worried about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment partnership (TTIP)5 negotiations in Brussels that will create problem for the film and art industry in Europe. This trade agreement is across the Atlantic i.e. between U.S and Europe which provides a huge commerce among these countries making it one of the topmost partnerships in global trade.
France, though a great protectionist of its culture and language the idea of "cultural exception" is difficult to sustain. The amount of subsidies given to film and art industry by the government and some private donors in order to protect it is increasing from year to year. If we gather some data since 2000 this subsidy increased from 50 percent to more than 100 percent6. When subsidy7 is provide to any particular industry then there is huge possibility of corruption. The proper use of the subsidy is difficult to handle and are misused. The same scenario is in the case of French audio visual industry where subsidies are spent extravagantly without proper monitoring and thus increasing the cost to the government. So Messerlin8 concludes that subsidies are part of the problem not the solution.
This is not the end, there is also quota and tax system implemented by the French government in order to protect the French audiovisual industry where they limit the number of American films and allow programs of European origin. The Hollywood film industry9 that considers their culture as not just consumer goods but as soft power weapons so heavy tax are levied on American films and series. They also fear that some American companies like Google, Amazon and Netflix will enter their country and create problem to their art and culture. But these companies will make the market structure better by opening an export and import mechanism of foreign film and series in France and making French shows global. But the problem is that this will bring an end to their subsidy and quota system which the famous artists of this industry are enjoying.
Another important fault of the French audiovisual industry is the inability to attract viewers. Both the French movies and the Television industry are not making the industry competitive in order to sustain in global market and establish them so they are not investing in better method of film making and production. By making French audio visual industry global there will be benefit for the new talents who want to pursue their career in this competitive world and get exposure. Their talents which were confined only to a particular region will now be shown to the whole world which will provide them the opportunity to establish themselves in other countries too. Thus, protecting cultural sector does not imply creating barriers for one's own people and incurring huge losses in this industry.
Works Cited
Cateridge James. Film Studies for Dummies, 2015
.Beauvais, Sophie des. “France: Ending the Cultural Exception.” World Policy Institute" (2014)
Nov 3 www.worlppolicy.org/blog/2014/11/03/france-ending-cultural-exception
"L'exception francaise." "The Economist" (2013) Jun 15 www.economist.com/news/europe/217794943-transatlantic-free-trade-deal-needle
Members' Research Service. "TTIP And The Cultural Exception". "European Parliamentary Research Service Blog" (2014) August 29 www.epthinktank.eu/2014/08/29/ttip-and-the-cultural-exception/
Kuper, Simon "France's exception culturelle' makes more sense than ever". "FT.com" (2013) June 7 www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/5e661a12-cf60-11e2--a050-0014feab7de.html
Bartsch Marlen. "The Return of the Cultural Exception and its impact on international Agreements". "Essay" (2014) www.db-thueringen.de/servlets/Derivative-29860/GMJ7_Bartch
"The Future of French Cinema" (2013) January 2 www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-future-of-french-cinema
Katsarova Ivana "An overview of Europe's Film industry- European Parliament" (2014) December www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2014/545705/EPRS_BRI(2014)
