On 9 October 2014, at the Frankfurt Book Fair and on the initiative of Vincent Monadé, President of the Centre national du livre (France), several directors of European organizations in the publishing field signed the first common declaration in favour of the book, in the presence of European trade federations (EWC, European Writers’ Council; FEP, Federation of European Publishers; EIBF, European and International Booksellers Federation; and CEATL).

The objective of the declaration is to guarantee authors’ rights and preserve those of readers.  It aims to encourage the adoption of common positions on the defence of authors’ right, a reduced VAT rate for print and digital books, and freedom of choice for the reader, in other words, on an interoperability which allows readers to access any work on the device of their choice. Collective actions could thus be effected in collaboration with professional organizations throughout Europe.

Find the English text of the declaration here (http://www NULL.centrenationaldulivre NULL.fr/fichier/p_ressource/4147/ressource_fichier_fr_european NULL.declaration NULL.in NULL.favour NULL.of NULL.the NULL.book NULL.pdf) and the list of the first signatory organizations here (http://www NULL.centrenationaldulivre NULL.fr/fichier/p_ressource/4128/ressource_fichier_fr_cnl NULL.first NULL.european NULL.declaration NULL.in NULL.favour NULL.of NULL.the NULL.book NULL.2 NULL.oct NULL.pdf).