Media agreement with the EU rejected

 After the Council of States, the National Council has now also rejected the media agreement with the EU. This forces the Federal Council to enter into new negotiations in Brussels. The agreement is an ambivalent matter: on the one hand, Swiss filmmakers would benefit equally from the EU funding program; on the other hand, the agreement clashes with the advertising bans in the Swiss Radio and Television Act (RTVA). In the EU, the regulations of the country of origin and no longer those of the recipient country will apply to advertising from 2009. For Switzerland, this would mean that it would not be able to maintain its ban on advertising for alcohol, politics and religion. For the majority of parliament, this was reason enough to reject the agreement. For Culture Minister Pascal Couchepin, the survival of the Swiss film industry in Europe is at stake. The same advertising rights should apply in Europe, that is a matter of common sense, he said during the debate. However, he would now look for a way out in Brussels and find one.
For its part, the EU has announced that it is prepared to "re-explain the conditions for the participation of third countries" to Switzerland. This includes compliance with the EU legal framework in the audiovisual sector. The responsible Commission spokesperson left it open as to whether the EU is prepared to renegotiate with Switzerland at all.