Manifeste pour le livre par les libraires, écrivains et éditeurs européens (en anglais)

MANIFESTO FOR THE 2014 EUROPEAN ELECTIONS Books convey ideas, feed the mind and make freedom of expression a reality. European citizens need to have access to books in order to understand the European democratic values which are underlying the European process. Books are key to our citizens’ participation in economic, social, cultural and political life. This is especially true given the emergence of the knowledge economy and the increasing demand for literacy skills this has brought about. The Book Chain: authors - the European Writers’ Council (EWC), publishers - the Federation of European Publishers (FEP), and booksellers - the European Booksellers Federation (EBF), together represent a significant cultural diversity within Europe. EWC represents 150,000 authors in the publishing sector, who write in all genres, covering 40 languages; several hundred thousands of people are working in publishing houses and bookshops. Books are also the first cultural sector in economic terms, with a turnover for the publishers of € 22.5 billion in 2012 and an annual production of 535,000 new titles. European publishers held i a total of about 9 million different titles in stock (of which more than 2 million in digital format) . EWC, FEP and EBF have agreed on 4 Top Priorities 1.