With its proximity to France as well as sharing the same official language of French, it is obvious the influence of Monaco on France and vice versa. The strong link of France and Monaco was further strengthened when the Treaty of July 1918 was signed by both countries stating France as a defender of Monaco's indepedence and sovereignty. Monaco in return would thus use its French-protected rights to promote the interests of France. France's strong presence in the European Union in all aspects including culture and diplomacy is the main connection between the EU and the small principality of Monaco.
According to the official government website for France, the French language is spoken by 180 million people worldwide, exemplifying the influence of the language in general and the large arena for media in any French-speaking country. Other influences are the use of the Euro as currency despite not being part of the European Union and being part of various international organizations such as Interpol and UNESCO.
All of the facts above attest to why Monaco's broadcasting media gained momentum in the 1960's despite being such a small country in both size and population. According to BBC News, "from the 1960's Radio Monte-Carlo used powerful transmitters to reach listeners across much of France." As stated in a previous blog post, Monaco also to this day does not house any daily newspapers in its country therefore they rely heavily on French newspapers reporting on their news.
Italian is not an official language in Monaco but it is widely spoken and taught in schools. As a result, Monaco has kept a bilateral treaty with Italy since 1866 and it was last updated in 1957. The treaty is not as binding and extensive as the treaty with France but it does develop a strong symbiotic bond between the two countries. As reported by the BBC News, "the 1970's broadcasts to Italy began," by Radio Monte-Carlo who now features immense FM networks in both France and Italy.
Monaco has also held treaties pin-pointing telecommunications and media since 1911 with mainly the European community as a whole and the European Union . The first treaty involved radio, while the latest treaty, signed in 1997 involves all areas of media that Monaco has a hand in but especially broadcasting resources. A list of treaties can be viewed at the official Monaco website.
S. E. M. Franck Biancheri, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Government Counsellor for Exterior Relations and International Economy and Finance at UN Treaty Signing in 2008.
Photo Courtesy of treaties.un.org
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