October 6, 2004

NEWS: 'Big Brother' producer Endemol to stage "Eurovision-like" EU debate

'Big Brother' producer Endemol to stage "Eurovision-like" EU debate

The Dutch television production company Endemol, which launched the reality show trend with Big Brother, will organize a television debate about issues that will dominate the next European Union summit in December to bring the bloc closer to its citizens, Dutch European Affairs minister Atzo Nicolai announced Tuesday.

Endemol is discussing prospects for broadcasting the debate, to be held on the eve of the December 17 EU summit, in a handful of countries, Nicolai explained after an informal meeting with his EU counterparts on "Communicating Europe".

The debate will be "a kind of Eurovision" with a central debate with European politicians about the main issues that will be dealt with at the summit and will switch back to national television studios where the audience can vote on specific issues.

It is not clear which issues will be addressed in the debate, but Nicolai said that propsoects for Turkey's EU accession would almost certainly be on the agenda.

The Netherlands and the European Commission will jointly carry the costs of the debate but it is not clear what the total will be.

At the December summit, EU leaders are to decide whether or not to open accession negotiations with Turkey.

In a widely leaked report that is to be presented Wednesday the European Commission is expected to recommend that Turkey is ready to begin entry talks while warning there is a long road ahead.

 
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