Morocco has just become the 41st member of the European Audiovisual Observatory.
The news was announced via press release by Jamal Eddine Naji, General Director of Audiovisual Communication, who will represent Morocco within the Observatory’s Executive Council.
Mr Naji stated that the membership of Morocco within the Observatory would open up more information about the Moroccan media industries. Film and television professionals wishing to know more about working with Morocco would have access to key data and legal background information. He also added that Moroccan professionals, in turn, would have better access to information about the audiovisual industries in Europe thanks to this new development.
Susanne Nikoltchev, the Observatory’s Executive Director, welcomed this decision and indicated that the Observatory has already taken part in data collection on Morocco. The Observatory worked together with the EU’s Euromed Audiovisual III Program to produce a series of very useful reports on the Mediterranean area, one of which covered Morocco (downloadable HERE).
Nikoltchev stated that Morocco’s joining the Observatory was part of general and very welcome trend of Europe’s institutions working more closely with and creating ties with the Mediterranean region. She concluded that the audiovisual sectors in both areas could only benefit from this new development.
Set up in December 1992, the European Audiovisual Observatory’s mission is to gather and distribute information on the audiovisual industry in Europe. The Observatory is a European public service body comprised of 40 member states and the European Union, represented by the European Commission. It operates within the legal framework of the Council of Europe and works alongside a number of partner and professional organisations from within the industry and with a network of correspondents. In addition to contributions to conferences, other major activities are the publication of a Yearbook, newsletters and reports, the compilation and management of databases and the provision of information through the Observatory’s site (http://www.obs.coe.int).
