Audiovisual Directive: let's not change solutions that work

Adopted after many years of negotiation and implemented with some delay by some Member States, the Audiovisual Directive generated the results expected. An assessment by the European Commission shows that this directive has reduced the amount of advertising on alcoholic products, and also allowed greater protection of children from ads promoting products that are harmful to their health, including sugars and fats. In this sense, it ensured better protection of European consumers than the solutions proposed in the United States, where the advertising market is completely unregulated. That is why the EU should not rush into a revision of the existing Audiovisual Directive, but focus on the full implementation of its provisions, according to MEPs, who adopted a report by Polish MEP, Piotr Borys, on the evaluation of the implementation of the Audiovisual Directive.

"Regulation of the media in Europe was a success. Some Member States have experienced delays in implementing the Audiovisual Media Services Directive; the implementation of its key objectives, however, can be assessed positively, including a time-limit of 12 minutes for ads per hour, which is a good compromise for both viewers and producers who finance programs from advertising revenues. Hate speech was eliminated from television. For example, in France, the Al Aqsa satellite channel, which had been broadcasting anti-Semitic content, was prevented from broadcasting," said Piotr Borys. "Thanks to the directive, we can effectively eliminate messages that show discrimination based on age, sex, and religion," he added.

This does not mean that the EU can put a stop to its efforts. Piotr Borys is calling for the adjustment of television equipment, such as remote controls or set-top boxes, to take into account the needs of the visually and hearing impaired, for example.

He also draws attention to the challenges of fast-developing technologies such as hybrid TV, that can call into question the validity of certain provisions of the directive. "We need the space and time to answer questions about the impact of this television on the media market. We call on the Commission to monitor closely the development of hybrid TV and to provide proposals on how to regulate the audiovisual media market in the context of hybrid TV. Only after a thorough analysis, can we return to the question of amending the existing provisions," said Piotr Borys.

He also noted the need for the implementation of media literacy training in education programmes and further implementation of the provisions of the directive which allow for the promotion of European cinematographic productions. "Currently, the directive imposes on the media the duty to assign an average of 10 percent of airtime to independent producers from Europe. We would wish, however, for the Member States to go beyond the minimum set by EU law," concluded Piotr Borys.