Cultural Diversity and the Cultural Exception (1999)

For the First Time, the Council of Ministers of the member states of the European Union has given a precise mandate to the European Commission, which will represent them throughout the upcoming Round of commercial negotiations organized within the framework of the World Trade Organization. ¹ Many have wondered about the real extent of this mandate, and notably about the possible signification of the use of the term ‘cultural diversity’ alongside the more familiar term ‘cultural exception’. During a press conference on October 28, Catherine Trautmann thus wished to explain more precisely both the signification of these two notions and also the actual extent of the mandate given to the Commission.