Initially created in 1997 to oppose the OECD’s Multilateral Agreement on Investment (M.A.I.), the French Coalition for Cultural Diversity – previously known as the « Comité de vigilance pour la diversité culturelle » – federates 38 professional cultural organizations (cinema, television, performing arts, music, graphic arts, multimedia) and defends cultural diversity endangered by international trade.
The Coalition coordinates the objectives which the professional organizations wish to defend with French, European and international authorities:
- defend the liberty of expression and creation in a social and economic environment favourable to the emergence of creative talents and the expression of diversity of creation in all forms,
- defend the capacity of states and state groups to set up, develop and adapt their cultural policies in every sector,
- keep culture outside the scope of international trade agreements and trade liberalising commitments within the WTO framework,
- develop international legal standards outside the WTO framework to encourage cultural diversity and pluralism.
