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Speech by Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe

OPENING

Madam President of Series Mania, Anne Bouverot, 
Madam General Director of Series Mania, Laurence Herszberg,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honour to address a room full of storytellers.

Of people who understand the power of a great story, well told.

I. THE POWER OF STORYTELLING

Your entire craft rests on a rare combination of imagination and connection.

A pilot that takes us by surprise.

Characters we care about.

Cliffhangers that pull us in.

One episode at a time.

Season after season.

In fifty minutes or less.

No other medium creates connection in quite the same way.

II. THE STORY EUROPE FORGOT

Looking at this room, I cannot help but think that Europe has forgotten how to tell its own story.

What Europe would give, in moments like this, for a storytelling tool as powerful as yours.

A way to remind people who we are, what we built, and why it still matters.

III. THE ORIGIN STORY

So imagine the opening scene.

The University of Zurich, just after the Second World War.

Europe is still in ruins.

The old order has collapsed.

Churchill goes to the podium and argues that Europe has only one way forward.

Reconcile former enemies.

Act before time runs out in a nuclear world.

And build common institutions strong enough to protect peace.

But this is not fiction.

This actually happened.

And this is how the Council of Europe was born.

IV. THE RUPTURE

This is where our two worlds meet.

It is also where fiction pales in comparison to reality.

When I took office a year and a half ago, the debate was about Europe’s place in the international order.

Never did I think we would be asking if that order is still real.

But that was before the discussion on Greenland, the kidnapping in Venezuela, and now the war in Iran and the Middle East. 

Since then, each day has taken us deeper into rupture.

Into a world where power and force test every limit, and too often find none.

V. THE new reality

The temptation is to tell ourselves this is simply the new reality.

To think we can compromise on our values without losing who we are.

And to call that pragmatism.

But if Europe stops asking what order it wants to defend, it will drift from concession to concession, until it stands for nothing at all.

This logic does not stop at energy, trade and technology.

It applies to culture too.

Stories are treated as mere content.

Citizens are turned into consumers.

And language is reduced to data.

Before you know it, Europe becomes a market of seven hundred million people where others project power, rather than a continent that can still tell its own story.

VI. The CASE FOR INVESTMENT

At a time when Europe is investing hundreds of billions of euros in military security, what are we investing in to strengthen democratic security?

Democratic security begins with institutions people can trust.

Independent courts.

Transparent elections.

Free media able to challenge those in power.

It also extends to threats like cyberattacks, disinformation and foreign interference.

The European audiovisual sector depends on the same democratic conditions.

Independent productions.

Diverse voices.

Creative freedom.

And fair access to audiences.

Not access distorted by opaque algorithms and market forces that concentrate narrative power in the hands of a few.

Because just as democracy relies on different parties, independent courts and free media, it also relies on diverse, independent storytelling.

And that requires investment.

Sustained, coordinated investment in Europe’s capacity to create, finance and circulate its own stories at scale.

We know that investment works.

Just days ago, a European co-production supported by Eurimages won the Oscar for Best International Feature Film.

VII. THE NEW CONVENTION FOR SERIES

But investment alone is not enough.

It also needs the right framework.

For this, we need rules.

Rules that recognise a reality every producer in this room knows well.

Financing is more complex.

Partnerships are broader.

The lines between television, platforms and international distribution are increasingly blurred.

And the pressures are not only commercial, but also technological and geopolitical.

In that environment, independent producers need a framework they can trust.

Today, we will open for signature here at Series Mania the new Council of Europe Convention on the Co-production of Audiovisual Works in the Form of Series.

This first international framework for series will strengthen independent producers, support co-operation, and bring greater clarity and predictability to a market in full transformation.
What is it?

It is a concrete international commitment to support your work.

It is a strategic signal for the future resilience and competitiveness of European production.

It is also a reminder that Europe is strongest when policymakers, creators, public service media and industry move together.

This convention is open to all 46 Council of Europe member states and beyond.

Today, on this first day of signature, France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Poland and Portugal are already on board.

And we expect many others to follow.

As we look to the future, we should be clear about one thing.

National identity is not nationalism.

Protection is not protectionism.

And at a moment like this, the choice is not between co-operation and competitiveness.

We need both.

CLOSING

The world outside is not waiting for culture to catch up.

It is already here.

In this room.

On these screens.

In the stories we tell, and in the stories we fail to tell each other.

Because democracy does not live by rules alone.

It lives in our ability to recognise a shared reality and imagine a future together.

And that is why democracy remains the greatest story of all.

Thank you.