Proposal by the European Commission for the Revision of The 'Television Without Frontiers' Directive (Directive 89/552/EC, amended by Directive 97/36/EC)
Consultation by the Government of the United Kingdom
This consultation document seeks your views on the European Commission's proposals for amending the Television Without Frontiers Directive (TVWF) published on 13 December 2005.
These can be found at: http://ec.europa.eu/comm/avpolicy/reg/tvwf/modernisation/proposal_2005/index_en.htm
The Commission propose that TVWF should be changed into a Directive in respect of audiovisual media services generally – an 'Audiovisual Media Services Directive' (AVMS).
These proposals are now under discussion in Europe, both within the Council of Ministers and within the European Parliament. We expect that these discussions will continue into 2007.
Proposed extended scope of the Directive
- The Television Without Frontiers Directive dates from 1989, and was revised in 1997. It sets minimum standards for the rules which Member States must impose on the television broadcasting services which they authorise. It also creates a Single Market in these services throughout the EU.
- The Commission propose that the overall scope of the new AVMS Directive should be any
service as defined by Articles 49 and 50 of the Treaty the principal purpose of which is the provision of moving images with or without sound, in order to inform, entertain or educate, to the general public by electronic communications networks ………
- It calls these 'audiovisual media services'.
- By contrast, the TVWF Directive applies only to television broadcasting, which is defined as
the initial transmission by wire or over the air, including that by satellite, in encoded or unencoded form, of television programmes intended for reception by the public. (This) includes the communication of programmes between undertakings with a view to their being relayed to the public. It does not include communication services providing items of information or other messages on individual demand such as telecopying, electronic data banks and other similar services.
- As explained more fully in the partial Regulatory Impact Assessment, the Commission propose that the audiovisual media services defined by the new Article 1a would be divided into two categories, linear and non-linear. 'Linear' services would be analogous to television, with scheduled content. 'Non-linear' services would those which were 'on demand', where it is the user, not the supplier, who decides when particular pieces of content are transmitted.
- Member States would be required to ensure that audiovisual media services within their jurisdiction complied with the Directive provisions, though they could impose higher requirements on them if they wished. 'Linear' services would be subject to similar requirements to those which are imposed by TVWF, but with some simplifications and differences, particularly with respect to advertising. 'Non-linear' services would be subject to fewer requirements at EU level, designed to provide protections for minors and against incitement to hatred, promote European work and meet requirements in terms of advertising, sponsorship and product placement. Section 2 of the partial regulatory impact assessment sets this out in more detail.
- The Commission's stated intention is to provide for non-linear services the Single Market advantages which television broadcasting services currently enjoy under the TVWF Directive. Most, but not necessarily all, of these non-linear services are currently covered by the e-Commerce Directive.
- As compared with that, the proposed new AVMS Directive would provide far fewer and narrower grounds for Member States to derogate and decline to accept particular audio-visual media services from elsewhere in the EU. However, the introduction in Article 3c to 3h of the revised Directive of basic requirements for all these services, both linear and non-linear, could arguably provide a balancing measure of protection.
- This consultation exercise provides an opportunity for you to feed in your views about this issue. We would be particularly interested to know of any instances in which the existing EU controls on non-linear services have allowed a Member State to block access to a service coming from elsewhere in the EU. We are also particularly interested in any detailed assessment of the prospective costs and benefits of the proposed extension of scope to 'non-linear' services.
- The Commission's proposals would also mean important changes to minimum standards which the EU sets on television broadcasting (and other 'linear' services which are established in Member States. These affect advertising in particular – the EU controls would be much simplified, and there would be clear provision allowing Member States to permit their broadcasters to include 'product placement' within programmes. Again , this consultation provides you with an opportunity to let us know your views on these questions and your assessment of costs and benefits.
Timing and process
- Subject to agreement, the revised Directive would need to be implemented in EU Member States by 2010. It will be subject to Qualified Majority Voting within the Council of Ministers. Its final text will be subject to the co-decision procedure, involving agreement between the Council of Ministers, the European Parliament, and the European Commission.
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Other documents you should consult
- We have prepared a partial regulatory impact assessment of the Commission's proposals. As well as attempting an initial assessment of the impact of the Commission's proposals (and pointing out the difficulty of assessing their impact) this describes the purpose and effect of the existing TVWF Directive and of the Commission's proposals for amending it.
Partial Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) PDF (1.4mb)
- We have also prepared a table which details the changes to the regulation of audiovisual services which would appear to result from the Commission's proposals.
Issue Grid - changes to the regulation of audiovisual services PDF (150kb)
- You may also wish to look at the list of questions on which – in order to guide our actions in the process of negotiating the Directive – the Government would particularly like to have respondents' views. But this list is by no means exhaustive and we would welcome views on other any other issues related to the Directive that may concern you.
Consultation Questions PDF (137kb)
- Finally, there is an unofficial 'consolidated version' of the amended Directive. This shows it in the form in which it would eventually appear if the Commission's proposals were accepted in full. It also shows their proposed changes as against the current text of the Directive.
Draft for Amended TVWF Directive – Unofficial consolidated version PDF (74kb)
Reply and disclosure
We welcome your views on the questions set out in our list, and on any other issues raised by the Commission's proposals in this area, by Friday 8 September 2006.
Please reply to:
Natasha Pavey
Broadcasting Policy
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
2-4 Cockspur Street
London SW1Y 5DH
or e-mail to natasha.pavey@culture.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: (+44) (0) 20 7211 6398
If you have any questions or complaints about the process of consultation on these issues, please contact Liz Sweet, Consultation Co-ordinator, Strategy Division, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2-4 Cockspur Street, London SW1Y 5DH, liz.sweet@culture.gsi.gov.uk
Please note that all information in responses, including personal information, may be subject to publication or disclosure under freedom of information legislation. If a correspondent requests confidentiality, this cannot be guaranteed and will only be possible if considered appropriate under the legislation.
Any such request should explain why confidentiality is necessary. Any automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not be considered as such a request unless you specifically include a request, with an explanation, in the main text of your response.
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These documents are available online in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format.
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