France has responded to a call from the European Commission to overturn its ban on television advertising by the publishing and cinema sectors with insistence its efforts are in the name of cultural diversity. French Minister for Culture and Communication, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres stressed that the current French regulations, forbidding television advertisements for cinema and publishing on free to air networks, aim to protect the regional daily press and the diversity of the media (particularly local and general radio broadcasting) by maintaining their revenue from advertising (particularly by the distributive trades) and to protect the number of titles in print and cultural diversity. The Minister also explained that the ban works to the benefit of European films who do not have the necessary means to access televised advertising campaigns. The Commission feels the ban is depriving French consumers of a wider range of European cultural goods and could have discriminatory effects on cultural products from other Member States, as well as being counter to the European general interest. In response, De Vabres said he wished the Commission would ‘recognise the accuracy of this combat in favour of cultural diversity.’ For further information in French, CLICK HERE.