European music companies meet EU and Belgian officials at IMPALA summit
Press Release, 9th June 2010, Brussels

Held in Brussels ahead of the rapidly approaching Belgian Presidency of the EU, IMPALA’s summit combined key EU officials and parliamentarians as well as national governments to exchange views on the real-life experiences of some of Europe’s most innovative entrepreneurs. The summit follows hot on the heels of the recently published EC Green Paper on the cultural industries which highlighted the importance of SMEs in the cultural and creative industries as well as the market access issues they face, particularly when it comes to the digital market.  As IMPALA enters it’s tenth year, never before have the cultural industries and their SMEs been prioritised to such an extent.
	Michel Lambot, Co-President of [PIAS] Entertainment Group and Co-President of IMPALA added: “We have high hopes for the Belgian presidency to provide strong leadership to build a true single and diverse digital market. Three things would make the difference - ISP co-operation, reduced VAT, and a proper investment strategy including a proper EC programme for music and books, just like film.ˇ Helen Smith, Executive Chair of IMPALA said: “Ten years ago the political discussions around music were very narrow. We have made huge progress and the challenge now is to convert this into concrete measures to give European artists more space."

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