Studies

In this section EBF proposes various sources of information to those interested in knowing more about books and the promotion of reading.

September 2008

“Rapport sur le livre numérique”: contains interesting ideas as to the protection of copyrights, pricing for ebooks and suggestions as to further EU Lobbying for intellectual property including reduced VAT-Rates

July 2008

Update of "The Book Trade in Europe"

VAT rates applied in the Member States of the European Community, European Commission, DG Taxation and Customs
Click here to access the document (pdf)

February 2007

Update of "The Book Trade in Europe"

March 2006

Update of "The Book in Finland"

February 2006

The book trade in Europe (updated in February 2006)

Survey reporting about consumer's behaviour in Germany. Click here to access the pdf document.

September 2005

VAT rates applied in the Member States of the European Community, situation at 1st July 2005, European Commission, DG Taxation and Customs

Click here to access the document (pdf)

March 2005

CULTURAL VAT ON BOOKS: An Evaluation of the three first years

August 2004

Publishing Market Watch. Final report available.

This 84-page report is published by DG Enterprise and was elaborated by the Turku School of Economics and Business Administration and Rights COM.
The report states that "the most noticeable aspect of the statistics on European book publishing industry is that it is nearly static in terms of turnover.  This indicate a mature industry rather than one that is in decline.  Book sales per capita are stable across all EU member states: book remain popular with readers and have not lost out to other media: however, an important challenge for the industry is to develop innovative product and marketing strategies to increase the number of book readers so growth can be renewed.  Most books are sold through retail channels, with book clubs being important in some countries and internet sales growing in importance.  The largest industries are Germany, the UK, France and Italy" (Executive Summary, p.7)

"Both social and economic sustainability depend on the industry's ability to attract new readers and compete with other media.
Currently, books appear to be maintaining or slightly increasing sales, but other media are growing faster.  Younger people continue to read books, but spend more time on other media.
People are likely to increase their spending on all types of media faster than they increase their spending on books." (Executive Summary, p.9)

As regards books sales in Europe, the reports states (p.15) that "the lack of consistent and comparable data causes problems in drawing any very firm conclusions; we must interpret the data with caution" ....
"The biggest market by sales value is Germany, where the value of book sales in 2000 and 2001 was around 9,4 billion Euros.  This represents one third of the total EU-15 markets.  Although not as large as Germany, the UK is
another substantial book market; books sales in the UK were around 5,5 billion euros in 2002.  Other large book markets are found in France, Spain and Italy."

About VAT, (p.42): "In the context of discussions concerning the impact of future harmonisation of VAT throughout Europe, the Association of European Booksellers argues that any increase of VAT, and thereby an increase in the retail price of books would add pressure on the book market, and thus discourage readers."
The full report is available on the publishing Market Watch website (PDF document)
 

April 2004

EBF Seminar on returns, London Book Fair 2004

"Finland has no returns. Doris Stockmann, President of EBF, explains how the system works. Peter Kilborn and the Booksellers Association of the U.K. and Ireland present the BATCH system in place in the U.K."

Doris Stockmann's paper (Powerpoint Presentation)

Peter Kilborn's paper (Powerpoint Presentation)

BA's paper (Powerpoint Presentation)

March 2004

"The EU publishing industry: an assessment of competitiveness" A 2003 DG Enterprise publication, now available electronically

October 2003

BOOK 2010 - DEVELOPMENT TRENDS IN THE BOOK TRADE

July 2002

NEW STUDY SHOWS EUROPE NOT DOING WELL ENOUGH IN LIFELONG LEARNING

The first European report on quality indicators of lifelong learning shows that Europe, as a whole, is not performing adequately in the areas of skills and competencies. The report, which was published on July 2, examines the quality of lifelong learning in 35 European countries in four key areas: skills, competencies and attitudes; access and participation; resources for lifelong learning; and strategies and systems. The report was produced by the Working Group on Quality Indicators of lifelong learning - which is comprised of representatives from the 35 countries surveyed, the OECD, UNESCO and the European Commission.

May 2002

WHAT DO EUROPEANS READ?

The results of a Euro barometer survey carried out at the request of the European Commission, about Europeans' participation in cultural activities confirms that Northern Europeans read more books than those from the South. A majority of Europeans answered positively to the question "Have you read any books in the last 12 months?" Nevertheless, 42,1% of them state they have not read any book in the last 12 months.

March 2002

OECD PISA STUDY PROVIDES INTERNATIONAL COMPARATIVE DATE ON SCHOOLING OUTCOMES

The OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) assesses the extent to which students approaching the end of compulsory education have the knowledge and skills needed for full participation in society. Data published are based on a first round of assessments that took place last year. Similar reviews at three-yearly intervals in the future will make PISA the most comprehensive international survey of student knowledge and skills. In addition to covering student performance, PISA also reviews student attitudes and approaches to learning. The result is a series of internationally comparable indicators that give insights into the factors influencing the development of literacy skills at home and at school and how these factors interact. These indicators provide policy makers with a unique benchmarking tool on which to base future policy choices.

http://www.oecd.org/pdf/M00022000/M00022678.pdf (requires Acrobat Reader)