30
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the
channel
I
t all began with a vision - a vision jointly developed by the
former French president François Mitterrand and the German
chancellor Helmut Kohl. Both statesmen shared the conviction
that Franco-German cooperation should not be limited to
economic and political cooperation. The idea was to bring the
French and the German public closer together and to strengthen
the cultural relations between both countries at a time when German
reunification raised some concerns in France about a possible
German alienation from its closest European partner. What could
have been a better link between both countries than a joint, Franco-
German TV channel? The idea of ARTE was born.
On 2
nd
October 1990, literally on the eve of German
reunification, the representatives of the French Republic and
the eleven West German “Länder” signed the Interstate Treaty
establishing the foundation of ARTE, the European Culture
Channel. The scene was highly symbolic of the cultural
differences between both countries: French centralism met
German federalism. Half a year later, on 30th April 1991, ARTE
(which stands for “
Association Relative à la Télévision
Européenne
” – paradoxically the only word in this bilingual
enterprise for which there is no German translation), is
established as a European Economic Interest Group with
headquarters in Strasbourg and two national members, ARTE
France and ARTE Deutschland. They each provide 40 % of
programme output, with the remaining 20 % being produced by
“la Centrale”, the head office in Strasburg. The German unit,
ARTE Deutschland, is owned by the public service broadcasters
ARD and ZDF who contribute equally to the German programme
input. The contract establishing ARTE defines the mission of
the first and only bi-national TV channel in the world as: “to
devise and make television programmes which, in a broad sense,
are cultural and international in character and conducive to
promoting understanding and rapprochement between the
nations of Europe.” This mission statement makes it clear that,
from the outset, ARTE was intended to be more than just a
Franco-German channel. Its founders wanted it to become a
truly European platform for cultural dialogue – an ambition
which has become reality.
From a Franco-German to a European programme
Over the past years, ARTE has signed a number of cooperation
agreements with other public service broadcasters in Europe,
ranging from co-production or cooperation agreements to
association contracts which involve both the co-production and
exchange of programmes. ARTE has entered into nine
cooperation agreements – with Belgian, Polish, Austrian, Swiss,
Spanish, Finnish, Dutch, British and Swedish television. Today,
30 % of ARTE’s programme output is produced in European
countries other than France and Germany, another 10 % is
The challenge
of a European
television
Tobias Gerlach
,InformationOfficer atARTE in Strasbourg,
says the European “Television Child” has grown up
The new ARTE headquarters in Strasbourg, with
the European Parliament in the background
