Today, the Greek TV ERT and the French TV ARTE signed a cooperation contract for joint co-productions, entertainment programs, and joint participation in festivals.

This agreement is part of ERT’s strategy for international co-operations. Until now, the TV station has signed contracts with China, American movie studios, and European sport organizations, said Christos Panagopoulos – administration council chairman of the TV.

The cooperation with ARTE started in 2005 through the implementation of international co-productions. During the last two years, 60 productions have been executed or are in process of being finished.

Some of the cooperation productions between the two TVs are a documentary about Maria Callas, a movie about the agricultural development in Europe, and a movie about the fires in Greece. And if in 2006-2007 ERT has bought only 30 hours from ARTE’s programs, now they broadcast 300 hours per year, said Mr. Jérôme Clément – vice president of ARTE.

After they signed the contract today, the two TV stations will continue coproducing films and documentaries, they will participate together on festivals, and an ERT representative will be invited to all ARTE administration council sessions, where decisions are made about the programming, explained Mr. Panagopoulos.

During the signing of the contract, honorable guests were the German and French ambassadors - Wolfgang Schultheiss and Christophe Farnaud, and the cultural attachés of the two countries. In connection to this, Mr. Jérôme Clément expressed the importance of the 1999 contract between the presidents of the two countries François Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl, for the beginning of the TV cooperation, product of which is ARTE.

One of the important topics, which Dr. Gottfried Langenstein - president of ARTE, touched upon was about the small languages in Europe and the necessity of a common strategy, in order to be more competitive. “If we have the best experts and scientists, we can be a serious competitor to the Asians,” added Dr. Langenstein.

“Money are not always a mean to achieve a good result. Out mean is culture and art. We want to give meaning, to make people ask, to dream…” said Mr. Clément, who has been working in the TV ever since its foundation. “The cooperation can bring new ideas and we have many plans for the future. We want to dedicate a whole day to the Acropolis or one night to Melina Merkouri,” added ARTE’s vice president.