EUTube offerings include sex scenes

BRUSSELS, Belgium — The European Commission has posted a montage of sex scenes from European films on a new video-sharing Web site, drawing criticism from some lawmakers who described it as "soft porn."

The commission, which is the executive branch of the European Union (EU), launched its own channel on YouTube last week, EUTube, saying it wanted to spread messages about topics such as climate change and human rights.

Commission spokesman Martin Selmayr said the sex-scene clips — drawn from award-winning films such as "Amélie" and "Bad Education" — highlighted Europe's tradition of rich cinema.

The 44-second clip — titled "Film Lovers Will Love This!" — was posted last week. It has been viewed more than 280,000 times, far outpacing the second most popular video on EUTube, a humanitarian-aid clip.

Selmayr said Tuesday he had not received any complaints about the video, which was presented at the Berlin Film Festival in February as part of a four-video media campaign.

But EU lawmaker Maciej Giertych of Poland, from the conservative League of Polish Families, accused the commission of using "immoral methods" of promotion, according to the British Broadcasting Corp.

Godfrey Bloom of Britain's euro-skeptic UK Independence Party also criticized the video, calling it "soft porn" and "cheap, tawdry and tacky."

The commission's foray onto the video-sharing Web site, he said, "was like watching an elderly relative trying to be cool: very embarrassing."

The steamy clip and the overall concept of EUTube have generated heated exchanges on the channel's comment forum with opinions divided between outrage and admiration.