David Cormand: “The Commission’s obsession with standardization threatens the strength of the European cultural model”

Posted by Isabelle Szczepanski le 26 mai 2026

As a Green MEP, David Cormand has established himself in recent years as one of the most steadfast advocates for the cultural sectors in the European Parliament, particularly on audiovisual and copyright issues. In an interview with ElectronLibre, he criticizes what he sees as the European Commission’s drive toward centralization in the AgoraEU program, defends national models for funding creative works, and argues that an evolution of the European framework on artificial intelligence and copyright has become necessary given the limitations of current rules.

ElectronLibre: You are quite critical of certain aspects of the Commission’s AgoraEU proposal. Why?

David Cormand: Because behind this proposal lies an old logic of the European Commission: to standardize models and reduce national specificities. For the industry, I can understand the search for European standards. But cultural creation doesn’t function like a traditional industry. When you go to Cannes, what strikes you is precisely the diversity of stakeholders in the creation and financing chain. This multiplicity of actors is the strength of the French model and, more broadly, the European one. As soon as we try to imitate much more centralized models, where a few…

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