Different associations of communications businessmen and journalists have presented a declaration, the Madrid Declaration, containing a series of petitions to the European Union for creating a framework for the digital era, in the framework of the "European Media Meeting"

The Declaration, approved at the end of the "European Media Meeting: The new challenges," which was held at the Cervantes Institute in Madrid, has been signed by Spanish and European broadcasting associations, periodicals and journalists, and will be presented to the European authorities by the Spanish Presidency.

In this document, the signees declare that they are aware "of the increasing progress of new technologies" and of other changes that "offer new opportunities, but also new risks that must be avoided."

For this reason, they are presenting a series of petitions in order to maintain competition in this new environment, to protect intellectual property and to guarantee quality journalism and freedom of information which is, they state, "the foundation of our profession."

The specific measures include a petition for "0% VAT on the sale of newspapers-magazines, publications and specialised publications, including the on-line digital press."

The conference, which was inaugurated in the morning by the President of the Spanish government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, with a statement to the media urging them to help in the formation of a European public opinion, was closed by the Vice President of the Spanish government, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, who affirmed that "we were able to confirm that the media also expect a lot from Europe. It is now up to the EU to analyse their proposals, to study how they can fit them into legislation and to harmonise them."

Fernández de la Vega concluded by stressing that the public institutions know that it is up to them whether the information era will be “a precarious era” or “an era of safety and certainty," but that depends, she said, “on the values that prevail, on the objectives that we set, on the courage and firmness with which we face our challenges."