03/02/2006

Based on an initiative by Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Information, Society and the Media, the EC has just proposed (December 13 2005) an update of the television directive “Without Borders”. The new draft is the first step towards its adoption by Parliament then by the European Council of Ministers.

First of all, the name of the directive has been changed, which is significant: The Audiovisual Media Services Directive will soon be applied not only to television, but also to the Internet and mobile telephones (no matter what technical methods used). The directive distinguishes between linear services (received passively by viewers) and non-linear services (obtained "on demand" due to a voluntary act by the viewer).

For the moment, these non-linear services are subject only to a simple general code of conduct. There is no "content quota" here, no minimum threshold of the broadcast of European works. The Commission preferred to invite the Member States to choose the appropriate methods according to local specifications, in order to promote (“wherever possible”) the best access to European works across all the "video on demand" services.

As for the linear services, they are aligned to the governing of the "classic" networks, where the principal of quotas is maintained. Currently, the norm is a 50% minimum, of which 10% is the minimum for independent productions (in practise, European works hardly make up 12%).

The old directive foresaw a minimum of 20 minutes of programming between two commercial breaks. This time, all broadcasters can choose the best, most appropriate time (to suit themselves). The new directive also accepts new forms of publicity (split screen, virtual and interactive advertising) and it has introduced, and regulated, the practise of "product placement " for both linear and non linear services .

(Translated from French)