Vice-President Ansip meets an FEP delegation

PRESS RELEASE

(FR and IT version attached)

Meeting a delegation of the Federation of European Publishers led by its President Pierre Dutilleul, the Vice-President of the European Commission, Andrus Ansip has firmly restated his support to the publishing sector in Europe.

The delegation composed of Rudy Vanschoonbeek (Treasurer of FEP and publisher in Antwerp), Simon Littlewood (UK) and Jürgen Hogrefe (Germany) presented to the Vice-President the different answers the industry brings to the requests of the users. It also reminded him of the importance of the investment and of the contribution of publishers. President Dutilleul insisted that ‘a varied and high quality offer has been developed, accessible on a cross-border basis and in the languages of the 28 Member States of the Union, an offer both in print and digital formats, reflecting the modernity of our sector’.

Whether in the field of copyright for which the members of the delegation have outlined the solutions developed to offer remote access to patrons of libraries as well as students and researchers, and the importance of coordinated national solutions in the field of education, or on the topic of VAT which discriminates digital publications, the Vice-President has listened to the needs of the sector and has shown willingness to develop solutions that will encourage innovation also in the publishing industry.

FEP is the voice of the publishing industry. FEP regroups 28 associations of books and learned journals’ publishers. European publishing presents a turnover of 22 billion euros per year and more than half a million titles per year.

For more information, contact Anne Bergman-Tahon, director, 3227701110

Press Release (11/01/2015) - EN
Press Release (11/01/2015) - FR
Press Release (11/01/2015) - IT