Globalization of the Communications Marketplace

In January 2000, the World Trade Organization began to administer a new round for the multilateral negotiations concerning the liberalization of goods and services in the audiovisual sector. Due to the sensitivity of this sector, the European Commission's Directorate-General X (for information, communication, culture, audiovisual media) launched a consultation on audiovisual services for the forthcoming round of negotiations. This focused on the General Agreement on Trade in Services, which is the relevant instrument for the sector. This article will consider how this consultation process was conducted. It will discuss the policy positions that the competing political and trade actors developed. Further, it will outline the different conceptions of markets and culture that have been drawn from the United States and Europe. Finally, it will anticipate how this exercise may impact the GATS 2000 round.