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IP/05/1573
Brussels, 13 December 2005
[Figures and graphics available in PDF and WORD PROCESSED ]
TV without Frontiers: Commission proposes
modernised rules for digital era TV and TV-like services
A proposal to update the EU’s 1989 “TV without
Frontiers” Directive, to keep pace with rapid technological and market
developments in Europe’s audiovisual sector, was tabled by the European
Commission today. In line with the principle of better regulation, the proposal
aims to reduce the regulatory burden on Europe’s providers of TV and
TV-like services and to give more flexibility for financing audiovisual content
by new forms of advertising. The proposal will also create a level playing field
for all companies that offer TV-like services, irrespective of the technology
used to deliver them (e.g. broadcast, high-speed broadband, third generation
mobiles). The Commission therefore proposes replacing disparate national rules
on protection of minors, against incitement to racial hatred and against
surreptitious advertising with a basic, EU-wide minimum standard of protection
for audiovisual on demand services. This new policy approach should accelerate
the advent of a seamless single market for TV and TV-like services and promote a
strong and creative European content industry.
“My aim is for Europe’s audiovisual content industry to flourish
under one of the most modern and flexible set of rules in the world”, said
Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding. “The new rules
should open up multimedia opportunities, boosting competition and consumer
choice, while promoting public interest objectives such as the protection of
minors and cultural diversity. Existing rules, which have been made redundant by
technological and market developments, must be abolished to take a decisive step
towards Audiovisual Media without Frontiers in Europe’s single
market.”
Under the Commission proposal, the modernised TV without Frontiers Directive
would govern TV and TV-like services. To open up the present EU rules to
technological developments, the proposal distinguishes between
“linear” services (e.g. scheduled broadcasting via traditional TV,
the internet, or mobile phones, which “pushes” content to viewers),
and “non-linear” ones, such as on-demand films or news, which the
viewer “pulls” from a network. Today’s TV broadcasting rules
would apply to linear services in a modernised, more flexible form, whereas
non-linear ones would be subject only to a basic set of minimum principles, e.g.
to protect minors, prevent incitement to racial hatred and outlaw surreptitious
advertising. Harmonising these rules EU-wide will ensure that audiovisual media
service suppliers need only comply with the rules of the Member State in which
they are established, and not with the disparate rules of all the Member States
receiving their services.
More flexible advertising rules
For scheduled broadcasting, the Commission proposes to remove red tape, make
existing rules more flexible for new forms of advertising, and encourage self-
and co-regulation. Instead of detailed prescriptions on how often and under
which conditions programmes may be interrupted by advertising, the modernised
Directive would simplify the existing EU rules. In the future, broadcasters
would be able to choose the best moment to insert advertising in programmes,
rather than being obliged, as they are now, to allow at least 20 minutes between
advertising breaks. However, the quantity of advertising would not be allowed to
increase as the Commission proposes to maintain the existing 12 minutes per hour
ceiling.
The new Directive would also support new forms of advertising, such as
split-screen, virtual and interactive advertising. Product placement would, for
the first time, be explicitly defined and provided with a clear legal framework.
Except in news, current affairs and children’s programmes, clearly
identified product placement would be permitted in Europe, both in linear and
non-linear audiovisual services. To prevent surreptitious advertising, consumers
would be informed at the start of a programme that product placement is in use.
These new rules should remove legal uncertainty, provide additional funding for
European productions and thus enhance the competitiveness of Europe’s
audiovisual sector.
In line with the Commission’s better regulation policy, the proposed
modernisation of the TV without Frontiers Directive does not affect private
correspondence, electronic versions of newspapers or magazines, web sites not
primarily intended to provide audiovisual media content, mere audio
transmissions or radio. This takes account of input from an intensive EU-wide
consultation launched in July (see IP/05/908),
in which representatives of the audiovisual sector, telecom operators, internet
service providers, consumer organisations and other stakeholders had taken an
active part.
The modernisation of the EU rules on audiovisual media content is part of the
i2010 strategy which aims at a European Information Society for growth and jobs
(see IP/05/643).
Further information:
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemlongdetail.cfm?item_id=2343
MEMO/05/475
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