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DRAFT Minutes Executive Committee MeetingThe Hague, Netherlands, 24 - 25 October 2003 |
These
minutes have been approved by the EBLIDA President.
Participants: Klaus–Peter Böttger, Berndt Fredriksson, María Pía González Pereira, Britt–Marie Häggström, Pedro Hípola, Marian Koren (Substitute Jan-Ewout van der Putten), Gérard Briand (Substitute Michele Lèmu), Antonio José da Pina Falcâo, Disa Svenskberg, Jan-Ewout van der Putten, Finn Vester, Winnie Vitzansky (Substitute Finn Vester).
1.
Opening and announcements
Jan-Ewout van der Putten (President) opened the meeting and welcomed the members of the Executive Committee to The Hague. He commented on the need to keep EBLIDA together and to focus on the direction it has to go. This Executive Committee meeting must serve as a basis to come up with ideas and thoughts to find a solid platform to work for the future. Preparations for the annual Council in Portugal have to be carefully made in order to avoid the mistakes committed in Uppsala.
Klaus-Peter Böttger notified his delay due to travel problems. No further announcements were made.
2.
Apologies for absence
The Secretariat received apologies for absence from Frode Bakken, Tommaso Giordano and Michèle Lèmu.
3. Approval of agenda
The Agenda was approved with the following changes:
Jan-Ewout van der Putten emphasized that the Executive should focus on defining strategic issues in order to find common points for decision. Finn Vester agreed on this. He commented on the importance of discussing the Strategy and Work Programme of EBLIDA to make the EBLIDA direction clear.
Winnie Vitzansky suggested the inclusion of the European Info Points situation as an item in the Agenda.
Britt-Marie Häggström added she could also provide some information on the situation in Sweden.
Marian Koren also expressed her wish to comment on this matter.
4. Approval Minutes Executive Committee meetings Uppsala, 8 and 10 May 2003
Minutes 8 May 2003
The Minutes were approved with the following amendments:
Antonio José da Pina Falcâo
Item 8: ‘…National Conference of the Portuguese Association of Librarians, Archivists and Documentalists’
Item 16: Portugal: ‘…the National Library signed an agreement…’
Berndt Fredriksson
Item 16: Sweden: substitution of the former paragraph by the following:
‘Recently a debate has emerged on the drawbacks of transparency. Critics state that the consequences of transparency have created a fear to document the formation of decisions. New methods of communicating –e.g. e-mail- have as an effect that official documents are not taken care of by archives to the same extent as it used to be. Considerations on the integrity of citizens also lead to the effect that sensitive but vital information is disposed of and not kept for research. These statements reflect assumptions and a fear. Still there is a need for research to find out whether they are true or not.’
Item 17: Director’s Dutch Tax issue
Berndt Fredriksson suggested stating that the Director was not present at the Executive Committee member’s discussion and decision on this matter.
Minutes 10 May 2003
The Minutes were approved.
5. Directive on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights. Briefing on lobby actions
María Pía González Pereira explained the EBLIDA lobbying actions on this issue. The EBLIDA Position Paper has been submitted to the EU Institutions representatives and widely disseminated. Members of the European Parliament have taken it into account and reflected the EBLIDA concerns in their amendments to the European Parliament Draft Report. Examination of the amendments is still an ongoing process.
Winnie Vitzansky commented on the quick and competent actions taken by EBLIDA but stated that she was puzzled as in Denmark they have not been aware that they should organise a national lobby.
Britt-Marie Häggström said that EBLIDA has issued a Position Paper which can be used as a reference.
María Pía González Pereira commented that the EBLIDA Position Paper was uploaded on the EBLIDA website. The Director has been in permanent contact with the EBLIDA Copyright Expert Group, in which a Danish member has a representative, and they were as well aware of every step EBLIDA was taking on this regards. The Director has written articles in Hot News and sent messages to the EBLIDA mailing list in order to spread the message and encourage EBLIDA members to take national action.
6. CALIMERA Co-ordinated Action
María Pía González Pereira highlighted the relevance for EBLIDA to participate in the project as the main goals of CALIMERA are to identify a research agenda for libraries, archives and museums in the digital environment, to sensitise local authorities of their needs and the EBLIDA role in liaising with the national authorities and representatives, including the accession countries. These goals are in line with the EBLIDA Strategy for the future 2001 – 2005 approved by the EBLIDA Council in 2001.
Berndt Fredriksson expressed his concerns that the project seemed to be a huge one and its ambitions too wide.
Jan-Ewout van der Putten suggested that the issue be discussed together with the EBLIDA Work Programme and Strategy.
7. PULMAN XT
Winnie Vitzansky commented that IFLA has a twinning project on a world wide basis.
The Executive Committee decided it was not necessary to have more explanations on this item as the project has already finished.
8. European Union Copyright Directive (EUCD)
María Pía González Pereira explained the current status of the national implementation of the EUCD which was also discussed within the EBLIDA Copyright Expert Group meeting in October 2003. The EUCD is to be reviewed as of 2004 by the European Commission so the process is ongoing and the involvement of EBLIDA still necessary.
Winnie Vitzansky requested that the Director send to the Executive Committee members a short report on the current status of the EUCD.
9.
WIPO,
World
Intellectual Property Organisation
María Pía González Pereira explained the relevance of monitoring the development of the issues dealt with by the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related rights (SCCR) as the European Commission and the EU Member States’ representatives participate in it. Cooperation between EBLIDA and IFLA in this forum strengthens the libraries position.
The Executive Committee agreed on monitoring WIPO issues.
10. Public Lending Right & Database Directives
The Executive Committee decided to discuss both issues together with the Work Programme and the Strategy.
11.
WSIS,
Britt-Marie Häggström requested Finn Vester to comment on the Danish meeting on the WSIS held in September in Copenhagen.
Winnie Vitzansky expressed her view that the WSIS was the culmination of much preparatory work. IFLA is participating strongly in the process. Some national Library Associations have influenced their governments representing the views of libraries. The real key for influence is the national representations that must be aware of the libraries concerns.
In the meeting in Copenhagen Kay Raiseroka, President elect of IFLA was present. The event made a great impact: the libraries’ discussions attracted 80% of the participants and the Danish national government negotiator attended the meetings.
Britt-Marie Häggström commented that she contacted the Swedish government on this regards but they had not yet appointed the representatives for Sweden.
Winnie Vitzansky went on commenting that The Danish Library Association sent a letter to the national Parliament Committee on Culture to raise their awareness on what was going on and act accordingly.
Marian Koren commented that in The Netherlands the Netherlands Public Library association has contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National UNESCO Committee and informed them about the position of the libraries and the Prelude conference in Geneva. The position of the European countries is formulated by the European Presidency. Therefore the Italian delegation is the important one to be addressed.
María Pía González Pereira asked whether EBLIDA should also produce a statement on the WSIS reflecting the views of the libraries.
After discussion the Executive Committee agreed that EBLIDA will join the IFLA efforts on this subject and monitor if further action from EBLIDA is needed.
12. EBLIDA cooperation with other organisations
EDItEUR, European Group for Electronic Commerce in the Book and Serials Sectors
María Pía González Pereira submitted to the Executive the letter by EDItEUR requesting the updating of the EBLIDA Director’s details.
The Executive Committee decided to study further the EDItEUR activities and goals before establishing formal cooperation.
FOBID, Federation of Library, Information and Documentation Associations
Jan Ewout van der Putten, President of FOBID, explained that FOBID consider they could contribute financially to EBLIDA in order to extend EBLIDA’s representation in Brussels.
María Pía González Pereira commented that EBLIDA is well represented in Brussels as this is its main task and goal and the results through the years speak for themselves. The ad hoc EBLIDA working groups have also been acting as a constant support and feedback on this function.
Right holders
María Pía González Pereira commented on the EBLIDA participation in discussion forums with publishers and editors, such as the Frankfurt Group, which goals are to maintain an open dialogue for consensus. Informal talks have also been initiated with other European publishers’ organisations with similar aims.
The Executive Committee agreed to maintain dialogue.
13. EBLIDA Draft Budget 2004
The Executive Committee decided to postpone tackling the draft budget 2004 until the EBLIDA Work Programme and Strategy were discussed. Klaus-Peter Böttger will cooperate with María Pía González Pereira in its preparation.
The Executive Committee decided that the draft budget 2004 will be discussed in the next meeting.
14. EBLIDA Work Programme 2003- 2004
María Pía González Pereira submitted to the Executive Committee a draft Work programme 2003 – 2004 for discussion and approval. It was amended as follows (See also the amended Work Programme 2003 – 2004):
Overall objectives
Jan-Ewout van der Putten asked whether we should consider ourselves as cultural heritage institutions and proposed to replace this wording by ‘…representative of the interests of libraries and archives throughout Europe’.
Winnie Vitzansky suggested to delete ‘To increase more income’ and place this objective under the ‘Membership’ section.
Lobby issues
Winnie Vitzansky suggested introducing the following general statement for the lobby issues section: ‘EBLIDA will encourage and receive feedback from the national lobby activities of its members’.
European Union Copyright Directive (EUCD)
Britt-Marie Häggström commented that many members feel that the copyright issue is over so we should state clearly that it is not so.
Pedro Hípola said that monitoring the implementation of the EUCD is very important for libraries. A study on the impact of copyright on libraries is being prepared in Spain as this is a necessary tool for taking action.
Digital Rights Management Systems & Technical Protection Measures
Winnie Vitzansky requested not to using acronyms e.g. EUCD, DRMS but the complete enunciation of the items.
Public Lending Right
María Pía González Pereira explained that the European Commission is reviewing the implementation and functioning of the Directive on Public Lending and rental rights. The future functioning of ‘lending’ in the digital environment is a concern shared by many institutions.
Jan-Ewout van der Putten said that to asses this possibility the Executive Committee would need to be presented with a complete proposal including costs.
María Pía González Pereira explained that preparing a proposal implies time and effort. Therefore it could be done if the Executive Committee decides that it is worthy to do so.
The Executive Committee agreed that EBLIDA monitors the development of this issue.
European Commission Communication on Copyright and related rights
After discussion the Executive Committee decided not to undertake a study on the interaction of the copyright & related rights legislation, as there are already other studies on this matter in preparation.
GATS, General Agreement on Trade in Services [World Trade Organisation]
The Executive Committee agreed that EBLIDA should not overlap the work of IFLA on this subject but monitor the development of the GATS in cooperation with the WTO Working Group.
Culture
Winnie Vitzansky said that it in the Work Plan it was important to focus on issues that could be foreseen to be on the agenda of the Parliament during the coming year. As educational issues are planned to be on the Parliament’s agenda for 2004 it was more important to concentrate on education in 2004 than on Culture that is not expected to become a burning political issue during the coming year.
Berndt Fredriksson asked about the proposal to create a working group on cultural issues.
Klaus-Peter Böttger said that cultural issues are important and will be more so in the next years.
Winnie Vitzansky said that ‘Culture’ does not entail current legislation.
Finn Vester suggested that ‘Culture’ be moved into a different section out of the lobby issues.
Britt-Marie Häggström said that the European Economic and Social Committee recently created a reference Group on European Union Creative Industries in which she has been appointed as an expert. Libraries have been invited to state their position on this matter.
Antonio da Pina said that during the Council of Uppsala members were informed of the current situation of the Proposal for a Directive on the recognition of professional qualifications, and EBLIDA should lobby on this issue and have its own position towards it. He submitted to the Executive Committee members the Berlin Statement ‘Realising a European Higher education Area’ (enclosed).
Pedro Hípola agreed that Education is an important issue. He is in favour of constituting a Working Group on Education and not on cultural matters.
The Executive Committee decided the creation of a Working Group on Professional Education.
The Executive Committee decided that the Director will prepare a report on the status of the proposed Directive on recognition of professional qualifications for the next meeting and the necessary arrangements for the constitution of the EBLIDA Working Group on Professional Education.
Britt-Marie Häggström stated that she did not agree with dropping out the Cultural matters from the lobbying issues.
After further discussion the Executive Committee decided that Culture and Lifelong Learning will be included under the ‘Monitoring issues’ section.
EBLIDA Cooperation with other organisations
IFLA, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
The Executive Committee agreed that it is important to keep in mind the European character of EBLIDA and to state in the Work Programme 2003 – 2004 that we cooperate with IFLA but do not duplicate the work both organisations do.
Berndt Fredriksson asked about IFLA action about archives emphasizing that archives are part of EBLIDA.
ICA, International Council on Archives
Pedro Hípola asked if it would be useful to become members of ICA (International Council on Archives) in order to establish links with the archives’ organisations.
Berndt Fredriksson commented that ICA has a special section for Professional Associations that could be interesting for EBLIDA to join.
Britt-Marie Häggström said that DIK (Sweden) is already a member of that section.
After discussion the Executive Committee decided that Berndt Fredriksson and María Pia González Pereira will see into the possibility of joining ICA. The issue will be discussed in the next Executive meeting.
EUCLID, European Association for Library and Information Education and Research
Pedro Hípola said EUCLID is the main European organisation of library schools dealing with professional education matters. The EBLIDA goal in this field should be to represent the position of the library professionals.
The kind of cooperation to establish with EUCLID will be decided in the next Executive Committee meeting. The Director will submit a report on this subject.
Projects
CALIMERA, Cultural Applications: Local Institutions Mediating Electronic Resource Access (2003-2005)
Finn Vester said that the Executive Committee should have a position towards the participation of EBLIDA in European Commission funded projects.
Pedro Hípola requested to have further information on the usefulness of participating in this project.
María Pía González Pereira explained the overall aims of the project and the role of EBLIDA as advisor in quality assurance and international networking. CALIMERA represents a strategic opportunity for EBLIDA to strengthen its presence at professional and political level, including the accession countries’ representatives.
Britt-Marie Häggström said that CALIMERA is interesting for EBLIDA as Eastern European countries are involved and this is a good opportunity for EBLIDA to extend its networking.
Klaus-Peter Böttger agreed that projects are a means to network and lobby at European level.
Winnie Vitzansky said that project work tends to take too many resources compared to the benefits obtained.
Antonio da Pina commented that projects are heavy work for the Secretariat and that in the future EBLIDA should only participate in projects related to its Strategy.
Disa Svenskberg said that the opinion of the Director on this issue should be taken into account.
Gerard Briand stated that EBLIDA must have a pragmatic approach and it could be useful to participate in this project as the accession countries will also do.
Marian Koren commented that it is important for EBLIDA that its name is used in the right way and place. EBLIDA should have an advisory role rather than heavy tasks to fulfil.
Berndt Fredriksson said that EBLIDA should have a position based on its Strategy. Projects are means to lobby but EBLIDA must be careful in selecting the project to be involved in. CALIMERA is a huge project and EBLIDA should be engaged in it at the level suggested by the Director.
After further discussion the Executive Committee approved the participation of EBLIDA in CALIMERA as reflected in the latest CALIMERA Technical Annex submitted to the Executive (enclosed).
EBLIDA Promotion
Publications
Pedro Hípola suggested increasing the use of the website. He also enquired about the usefulness of the EBLIDA publications in relation to the effort devoted to it.
Britt-Marie Häggström commented that Hot News is a very effective publication.
María Pía González Pereira explained that Hot News represents a basic tool to inform the members of what is going on at European level and to disseminate the EBLIDA lobby actions.
Winnie Vitzansky suggested assessing the possibility to switch to the electronic version of Hot News.
After discussion the Executive Committee agreed that this possibility be assessed. The issue will be discussed during the next Executive Committee meeting.
EBLIDA Annual Report
After discussion the Executive decided that it would be useful to have a printed Annual Report, especially in the event of a change to an electronic newsletter. The Director will see into the possibility of finding a sponsor and delete the subscription rates suggestion.
EBLIDA events
Klaus-Peter Böttger commented the possibility to introduce EBLIDA and the concerns of libraries in Europe in Germany at the Leipzig Library and Information congress, coinciding with the celebration of the Leipzig Book Fair, in March 2004.
The Executive agreed to celebrate a workshop in an accession country focused on a relevant European issue for the library professionals in these countries. The Director will assess the possibility of organising it in February or coinciding with the Executive Committee meeting in autumn 2004.
Finn Vester said that EBLIDA should not organise two workshops in the same year.
After discussion the Executive Committee decided that the Workshop on GATS must be done but not during the EBLIDA Council meeting in Estoril, where Professional Education will be the content issue tackled.
The Executive Committee decided that the EBLIDA WTO Working Group could come up with a proposal on the celebration of a Workshop on GATS and support the Secretariat in its organisation.
EBLIDA Membership and sponsors
Associate membership
María Pía González Pereira explained the conflict arising from the EBLIDA Constitution as regards Associate members that may have to convert into Full members due to the accession process. Eight new members have joined EBLIDA in 2003.
Jan-Ewout van der Putten suggested creating a working group to review the EBLIDA Strategy for the Future within which the membership issues shall also be reviewed.
The EBLIDA Work Programme 2003 – 2004 was approved by the Executive Committee with the amendments abovementioned.
15. Council meeting Uppsala. Evaluation by Danish Library Umbrella
Jan-Ewout van der Putten suggested to combine the discussion of this item with item 17 (EBLIDA Annual Council Estoril 2004).
Winnie Vitzansky said she is the Secretary of the Danish Library Umbrella who represents all Danish Libraries. The Associations are different and they are all individual members of EBLIDA. The meeting in Uppsala was not satisfactory from their point of view. The reason of the letter sent to EBLIDA (attached for reference) was not to criticize but to avoid future inconveniences. The intention now is to focus on what we are going to do in Portugal.
Britt-Marie Häggström expressed her disappointment for being criticized and explained that it has been a normal practice in EBLIDA that the Council meeting on the first day was chaired by the President and on the second day chaired by the Vice President. The doubts on the EBLIDA democracy were not appropriate.
Antonio da Pina commented on the fact that documents for the Council were only accessible by the members present in the meetings. He believes all the EBLIDA members should have access to the documents and suggested to discuss this issue further.
About the elections, he suggested that in the future the EBLIDA members have access to the biographical data of the candidates to be members of the Executive Committee so that everybody can know the applicants.
Jan-Ewout van der Putten suggested including these items on the Agenda for the next Executive Committee meeting.
Britt-Marie Häggström commented that organising a Council is a heavy work for the Secretariat and suggested that the Executive Committee appointed a working group for the organisation of the EBLIDA Annual Council.
Jan-Ewout van der Putten said that as a host of the Council the national organisation involved can help on this and had faith that the Secretariat would have no problems in organising the next Council meeting properly.
Berndt Fredriksson said he was concerned about the serious accusations made on the Danish letter as regards the procedures not being democratic. He commented on the similarities of these procedures with the past Council of EBLIDA in The Hague, with which he was disappointed, for instance with the speakers’ content. He said all the members of the Executive Committee were responsible for what happened in Uppsala and not only the President.
Winnie Vitzansky said that the feeling expressed in the letter reflected the dissatisfaction with the documents not being available on time for previous discussion, as it was the case of the draft budget for 2003.
Klaus-Peter agreed that procedures should be transparent and clear and the documents should be made available as early as possible.
Britt-Marie Häggström commented that these delays were due to the transition period taking place in the Secretariat and actions could be decided in order to avoid them in the future.
María Pía González Pereira commented briefly on the extraordinary situations going on within the secretariat at that time, apart from the new Director’s transition period, i. e. leave of Administrative Assistant and Project Assistant.
Jan-Ewout van der Putten also commented on these extraordinary facts being at the stem of the situation in Uppsala and agreed that it is necessary to make sure they do not happen in the future. He also highlighted that in spite of these unfavourable situations, Uppsala was a very nice occasion to meet the members and this has also to be taken into account.
Pedro Hípola disagreed with the criticism addressed to the Executive Committee of lack of transparency as the issues for the Council were discussed by the Executive the previous day. He said the Executive was democratic although formalities were not followed strictly. He agrees that the documents for the Council be made available for all the members, present or not in the meeting, and that the password on the EBLIDA website be suppressed.
Disa Svenskberg agreed on this. She commented that formalities have to be followed so that everybody knows what is going on as this is a very important democratic principle. If the Danish think it has not been a democratic procedure, then they must be right as Scandinavia has a long democratic tradition. She suggested that the documents for the Council meeting be put on the EBLIDA website at least one month before the meeting.
Klaus-Peter Böttger suggested the preparation of a time schedule for the Council so the Executive can be aware of when the Agenda will be ready and the documents delivered.
Britt-Marie Häggström commented that these details are already contained in the EBLIDA Constitution.
Jan-Ewout van der Putten said that some documents may not be for wide public dissemination.
Klaus-Peter Böttger suggested that in this case the members get the document with a notification of its non-public character.
Berndt Fredriksson agreed with Klaus-Peter Böttger in having a detailed timetable for the Council.
Klaus-Peter Böttger said that it is the Director who has to decide when a document is ready to be made available for the public.
María Pía González Pereira explained that in the case of the recently started lobby on the Enforcement of IPR, the EBLIDA 1st Reaction and later Position Paper were uploaded on the website and reflected in Hot News. She also commented that it is important to take into account that some members have expressed to the Secretariat their unwillingness to have all the EBLIDA information made accessible to a wide public.
The Executive Committee agreed that the Director draft a time schedule for the next Council taking into account the EBLIDA Constitution. Pedro Hípola and Antonio da Pina will work together with the Director in the organisation of the Council in Estoril.
The Executive Committee agreed that the structure of the next Council be as follows: first day (Friday 14 May 2004) in the morning the content side will be held open to the Portuguese colleagues; in the afternoon, EBLIDA matters open to Portuguese colleagues; second day (Saturday 15th May 2004) in the morning EBLIDA internal matters (EBLIDA members only).
Winnie Vitzansky thanked the Executive Committee for taking the Danish letter so seriously and expressed her satisfaction with the discussion held.
16.
Role of EBLIDA
Jan-Ewout van der Putten invited the Executive members to discuss on the role and strategy of EBLIDA for the near future.
Gerard Briand said that the national associations need EBLIDA to lobby at European level and share its experience with its members. It is important to build an active organisation.
Klaus-Peter Böttger commented that 80% of the national legislation is currently derived from the EU. Lobby should be done at European level and also at national level. The enlargement also has to be taken into account. The EBLIDA participation in projects is a matter not only of receiving extra income but a matter of cooperation for EBLIDA to interact with organisations in these countries.
Antonio da Pina said that EBLIDA has a Constitution which we should follow and recalled a phrase from the EBLIDA first President, Ross Shimon, who stated that EBLIDA is not a federation and does not want to be a small IFLA. Even in spite that BAD was a founding member of EBLIDA, the scope for them has been too narrow, too focused on copyright. If EBLIDA is a lobby organisation in Europe, there are other matters to which EBLIDA has to pay attention to. There are differences between the national agendas of the member associations and the way the different countries do advocacy. EBLIDA tends to give more attention to the concerns of those members who have a stronger tradition in advocacy.
For BAD it is important to focus on other matters apart from copyright, e. g. education and culture, as it is also stated in the EBLIDA Strategy for the future.
Jan-Ewout van der Putten said that due to the differences between the national associations it is important to find common points to be a true European organisation.
Berndt Fredriksson suggested having a more spontaneous dialogue and identifying first what we want to achieve (objectives) and then the means needed.
Britt-Marie Häggström said that we have to strengthen the position of libraries and archives by lobbying at European level in other matters apart from copyright. EBLIDA has been frequently identified only with copyright so the other areas to focus on have to be defined.
Finn Vester said that lobbying at European level is essential. EBLIDA mission should be to coordinate the lobby at European level and act as an alert signal for national organisations. EBLIDA should not overlap the work done by IFLA. He does not agree with spreading the areas of attention into Education and Culture.
Disa Svenskberg said that EBLIDA has a very important mission to fulfil and the enlargement will bring networking cooperation. She agrees in not doubling efforts when other organisations have done something in a particular field. EBLIDA could subscribe to what others have done in these cases. What the members can give to EBLIDA according to national resources should be an item for reflection. EBLIDA has to coordinate national lobbying actions.
Pedro Hípola said that the EBLIDA Constitution has to be looked at in order to define the Strategy. EBLIDA does not have a coordinating mission but to be the voice of its members at European level. If the intention is to change the role of EBLIDA then the Constitution would have to be changed as well. EBLIDA has a rather small but flexible and very effective Secretariat supported by the working groups created and this has been an efficient working pattern for years.
Finn Vester said that the issues in which EBLIDA focuses have to be discussed by all.
Pedro Hípola said it has to be made clear that we are not re-inventing EBLIDA but establishing a new rank of priorities.
Disa Svenskberg commented that coordination for her means that EBLIDA has to provide more input at national level.
Britt-Marie Häggström said that EBLIDA has to act as one voice taking up the lobby action at European level and alerting its members at national level. It is important that EBLIDA gives the signal at national level, but the national associations have to interpret and act according to their own national systems and tradition.
Antonio da Pina said that EBLIDA has to be the European lobby organisation representing the library and information professions in European Union matters. There are three main areas to focus: society itself, information professionals and services in libraries and archives. EBLIDA has to tackle the decisions taken at EU level in these three areas.
Marian Koren commented that EBLIDA has to be clear about the focus. Associations made of different professionals work different. Some consider copyright to be an important threat but others are concerned about professional qualifications, for instance. EBLIDA must focus on issues that have a greater influence on services provided by libraries and archives.
Disa Svenskberg said that EBLIDA has limited resources and is not able to tackle all the relevant issues.
Berndt Fredriksson commented that it can not be said that EBLIDA can not do everything. First decisions have to be taken on its priorities and then see if the means are available or not.
Jan Ewout van der Putten summed up the discussion highlighting the Executive agreement on the need to have a European lobby organisation. EBLIDA is the one to lobby whenever a relevant issue to our community comes up at European level.
Lobby issues
Pedro Hípola commented on the importance of the EBLIDA Working Groups as a means of supporting the Secretariat, networking and spreading the activities of EBLIDA.
Gerard Briand added that EBLIDA needs to be made better known to librarians and national governments.
Disa Svenskberg agreed on this and suggested that the Executive discusses promotion of EBLIDA to the big audience.
Conclusion of the discussion
The Executive Committee agreed on the following principles for the strategy revision: “EBLIDA should defend the interests of the library and archive sector on behalf of the European citizens, by:
- Lobbying at the European level;
- Inspiring and supporting lobbying at the national level”
Strategy review
After discussion the Executive Committee decided to establish a Working Group for the review of the EBLIDA Strategy for the future. The working group will draft a new Strategy for the period comprising 2004 – 2007 that will be submitted to the next Executive Committee and to the EBLIDA Council in May 2004. The working group is conformed by: Klaus-Peter Böttger, María Pía González Pereira, Pedro Hípola, and Antonio da Pina, Jan-Ewout van der Putten, Finn Vester, and Winnie Vitzansky.
17. EBLIDA Annual Council: Estoril 2004
Antonio da Pina explained the progress made on the Council preparations. The venue in Estoril has already been booked for the 14 – 15 May 2004.
He suggested discussing the internal matters of EBLIDA on Friday afternoon and Saturday, so Friday morning could be devoted to thematic issues open to the Portuguese colleagues who will be celebrating their national congress.
He expressed the concern in Portugal for educational matters and those arising from the Bologna process and the European Directive on recognition of professional qualifications.
After discussion the Executive Committee agreed that the Educational matters would be included on the thematic part of the Council in Estoril.
18. EBLIDA WTO Working Group. Request from the Canadian Library Association (CLA) for financial contribution for the TRIPS Study
María Pía González Pereira submitted to the Executive Committee the official request received in the Secretariat from the Canadian Library Association.
Jan-Ewout van der Putten commented on the talks held in Berlin during the IFLA Conference with the members of the EBLIDA WTO Working Group and their concerns on this matter.
After discussion the Executive Committee decided that even if EBLIDA has limited financial resources the Secretariat will provide a support of 500 Euros to the CLA study on the TRIPS.
19. EBLIDA workshop in a candidate country
The Executive Committee will tackle this item together with Item 24: Next meeting.
20. EBLIDA new working group on Culture
After discussion the Executive Committee decided that in view of the current interest at European level, a new EBLIDA Working Group on Professional Education shall be constituted. The EBLIDA Working Group on Culture will not be created at the present time.
21. Country Reports
Britt-Marie Häggström asked whether it was useful to keep the country reports on the Agenda of the Executive Committee meetings.
The Executive Committee decided to discuss this item in the next meeting.
22. Update EBLIDA registration Chamber of Commerce
María Pía González Pereira requested missing details of the new members in order to update the EBLIDA Executive Committee registration in The Hague Chamber of Commerce.
23. Any other business
Working Group on the review of the EBLIDA Strategy for the Future
The Executive Committee agreed that the working group will meet before the Executive Committee in February and will then submit a draft for discussion.
Info Points’ situation
Britt-Marie Häggström explained the situation of the Swedish Info Points. The European Commission did not reach an agreement in their meeting on 21 October. Another meeting is expected for the beginning of November and decision on 20 November.
Marian Koren suggested that EBLIDA makes clear that there is a connection between the Info Points and the libraries.
After discussion the Executive Committee agreed that EBLIDA send a letter stating its concern to the European Commission and the European Parliament representatives.
Creative Industries
Britt-Marie Häggström commented that she was recently appointed as an expert to the ESC reference group on Creative Industries. The group is requesting an EBLIDA Position reflecting the concerns of libraries in this field.
The Executive Committee agreed that Britt-Marie Häggström will cooperate with María Pía González Pereira on the drafting of an EBLIDA Position on this issue.
CILIP participation in EBLIDA
Jan-Ewout van der Putten commented on his recent visit to CILIP (London). He explained the miscommunication occurred for the annual Council in Uppsala for which they did not appear as candidates for the Executive Committee elections.
The Executive Committee agreed to Jan-Ewout van der Putten’s suggestion to invite Sue Brown as an advisor for the next Executive Committee meeting.
24. Next meeting
After discussion the Executive Committee approved to celebrate its next meeting in Ljubljana (Slovenia) on 27 and 28 February 2004.
25. Closure
Jan-Ewout van der Putten closed the meeting thanking the Executive Committee members for their participation and cooperation and pleased to have reached consensus on the new direction and focus of EBLIDA.
Created: 13 April 2004