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Regulation News

CoE launches Freedom of expression Website
posted on 24 February, 2016   (public)
CoE launches Freedom of expression Website The Media and Internet governance Division of the Council of Europe has  launched its new Freedom of expression website on 23 February 2016. The new site brings together previously separated websites (Media, Internet...
Incitement to hatred: Croatian AEM temporarily suspends local TV licence
posted on 11 February, 2016   (public)
Incitement to hatred: Croatian AEM temporarily suspends local TV licence On 22 January 2016, the Council of the Electronic Media Agency, the Croatian broadcasting regulator, temporarily suspended the license of the Zagreb-based local television channel Z1 televizija d.o.o....
Council of Europe issues network neutrality guidelines to protect freedom of expression and privacy
posted on 22 January, 2016   (public)
Council of Europe issues network neutrality guidelines to protect freedom of expression and privacy The Council of Europe called on European states to safeguard the principle of network neutrality in the development of national legal frameworks in order to ensure the...
A New Chair for the German DLM
posted on 21 January, 2016   (public)
A New Chair for the German DLM Under their regime of rotating responsibilities in a bi-annual rhythm, Siegfried Schneider, President of the Bavarian regulatory authority (BLM), took over the chair of the Conference of Directors ("Direktorenkonferenz der...
Ofcom consults on Section Three (Crime) of the Broadcasting Code
posted on 20 January, 2016   (public)
Ofcom consults on Section Three (Crime) of the Broadcasting Code On 13 January 2016, Ofcom, the UK Communications Regulator, published a Consultation on Section Three of the Broadcasting Code (“Crime”). This section of the Code deals with: “material...
New Online Media case - ECJ judgement
posted on 13 January, 2016   (public)
New Online Media case - ECJ judgement In June 2014 the Austrian Supreme Court of Administration had requested a preliminary ruling from the European Court of Justice further to an appeal against a decision by the Austrian regulator KommAustria which had qualified the...
10th edition of Ofcom's International Communications Market Report
posted on 16 December, 2015   (public)
10th edition of Ofcom's International Communications Market Report On 10 December 2015, Ofcom, the converged regulator in the UK, published its tenth International Communications Market Report which provides comparative international data on the communications sector on...
Challenging prospects for regional television
posted on 09 December, 2015   (public)
Challenging Prospects for regional television In view of a future reorganization of public service media, the Swiss audiovisual regulator OFCOM has commissioned the experts Marc Janssen and Jean-François Furnémont from the Wagner-Hatfield consultancy bureau to...
Ofcom concludes its work on the measurement framework for media plurality
posted on 02 December, 2015   (public)
Ofcom concludes its work on the measurement framework for media plurality On 5 November 2015, Ofcom published its advice to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the Measurement framework for media plurality it had been asked to develop in 2011 in order to...
Public Service Media Remit in 40 European Countries: free IRIS Bonus report
posted on 17 November, 2015   (public)
Public Service Media Remit in 40 European Countries: free IRIS Bonus report A free working tool, developed in collaboration with the EBU and intended inter alia to accompany the reading of the IRIS Special on “Public service activities online: remit and...
Deployment of mobile services on 700 MHz band: end of the auctions in France
posted on 16 November, 2015   (public)
Deployment of mobile services on the 700 MHz band: end of the auctions in France On 16 November 2015, ARCEP (the French regulator of the electronic and postal communications) has started the auctions for the 700 MHz band. The four major French operators have submitted...
"Let's choose what we watch" - National campaign launched by Agency for Electronic Media and UNICEF Office in Croatia
by Anja Jelavić (AEM - HR) posted on 12 November, 2015   (public)
"Let's choose what we watch" - National campaign launched by Agency for Electronic Media and UNICEF Office in Croatia "Let's choose what we watch" is a national campaign by the Agency for Electronic Media (AEM) and UNICEF, which aims to raise...
Ofcom’s proposals on signing arrangements for non-domestic TV channels
posted on 05 November, 2015   (public)
Ofcom’s proposals on signing arrangements for non-domestic TV channels On 14 October 2015, Ofcom has published proposals on signing arrangements for non-domestic TV channels – i.e. channels licensed by Ofcom for transmission to other Member States of the EEA. The...
AVMSDatabase: a new tool for comparative legal research
posted on 03 November, 2015   (public)
AVMSDatabase: a new tool for comparative legal research The European Audiovisual Observatory has just launched its AVMSDatabase and it is accessible free of charge here. This new tool shows exactly how each EU country has transposed the various rules contained within the...
French CSA withdraws Numéro 23 licence
posted on 30 October, 2015   (public)
French CSA withdraws Numéro 23 licence The French CSA (Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel) has, during its plenary on 14 October 2015, decided to proceed with a withdrawal of the licence granted on 3 July 2012 to the company Diversité TV in order...
Focus on Denmark: 2nd Report on Media Development
posted on 08 October, 2015   (public)
Focus on Denmark:  2nd Report on Media Development In June 2015, the Danish Agency for Culture has published the first part of its second edition of its "Media Development in Denmark Report" which looks at media consumption trends and at the media industry in...
Community Radio - Official Status in French Speaking Belgium
posted on 06 October, 2015   (public)
Community Radio - Official Status in French Speaking Belgium On the occasion of the UNESCO seminar of 14-15 September in Paris on "Community Media Sustainability",the Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel, the media regulator of the French speaking...
Due impartiality and news: Ofcom reprimands RT
posted on 29 September, 2015   (public)
Due impartiality and news: Ofcom reprimands RT On 21 September 2015, UK regulator Ofcom has ruled that three episodes of RT's programming were in breach of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code. The rulings published in the watchdog’s latest bulletin concern two...
Digital Single Market Strategy: consultations on geo-blocking and the role of platforms
posted on 25 September, 2015   (public)
Digital Single Market Strategy: consultations on geo-blocking and the role of platforms On 24 September 2015, the European Commission has launched two further consultations as part of the Digital Single Market Strategy issued on 6 May 2015: one on geo-blocking and one...
Media & Elections : French CSA publishes 15 proposals
posted on 21 September, 2015   (public)
Media & Elections : French CSA publishes 15 proposals With a view to better reconciling freedom of communication with rules on political pluralism in the audiovisual media, the French regulatory authority (Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel - CSA) has...
Digitisation in Germany - 2015 DLM Report
posted on 15 September, 2015   (public)
Digitisation  in Germany - 2015 DLM Report The Directors Conference of the Media Authorities (DLM) has recently published its 2015 report on Digitisation, measuring the digitisation of the German broadcasting market and comparing it also to the international one. The...
French data protection authority highlights insufficient protection of children's privacy on the Internet
posted on 08 September, 2015   (public)
French data protection authority highlights insufficient protection of children's privacy on the Internet In May 2015, 29 data protection authorities in the world (of which the French CNIL - Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés), gathered in...
BAI fosters Irish skills in quality TV drama
posted on 07 September, 2015   (public)
BAI fosters Irish skills in quality TV drama Big Stories on the Small Screen is a new initiative, funded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and Screen Training Ireland, focused on developing Irish skills in quality long-form screen drama. Big Stories will support...
Digital Single Market Strategy: two follow-up consultations launched this summer
posted on 07 September, 2015   (public)
Digital Single Market Strategy: two follow-up consultations launched this summer On 24 August, the European Commission has launched a public consultation on the "Cable and Satellite" Directive, which is part of the reform policy of European copyright law. All...
ERC reports on news consumption in Portugal
posted on 01 September, 2015   (public)
ERC reports on news consumption in Portugal On 19 May 2015, the Portuguese regulator ERC published an extensive report on news consumption in Portugal. This document represents the first report of the ERC project on audiences and media consumption which was launched in late...
New Media Online case - Opinion of Advocate General
posted on 01 September, 2015   (public)
New Media Online case - Opinion of Advocate General On 1 July 2015, Advocate General Maciej Szpunar delivered his non-binding opinion in the case New Media Online. In June 2014, the Austrian Supreme Court of Administration had requested a preliminary ruling from the...
Ofcom’s communications market report: smartphones are the most popular online devices
posted on 25 August, 2015   (public)
Ofcom’s communications market report: smartphones are the most popular online devices Smartphones have overtaken laptops as the most popular device for surfing online, Ofcom research has revealed, with record ownership and use transforming the way we communicate....
CNMC and Autocontrol agree on joint regulation of TV advertising
posted on 24 August, 2015   (public)
CNMC and Autocontrol agree on joint regulation of TV advertising The Spanish regulator CNMC announced on July 6 2015 an agreement with the industry group Autocontrol (Association for Self-Regulation of Commercial Communications) on joint regulation of advertising on TV. CNMC...
Protection of minors: new age classification criteria adopted by the Spanish CNMC
posted on 24 August, 2015   (public)
CNMC adopted new age classification criteria for protection of minors On July 9 2015, the Spanish regulator CNMC adopted new criteria for rating audiovisual content. These new criteria were agreed by the CNMC, TV broadcasters and for the first time, social organizations were...
CoE Parliamentary Assembly calls for Increasing transparency of media ownership
posted on 23 July, 2015   (public)
CoE Parliamentary Assembly calls for increasing transparency of media ownership The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has recently asked the CoE member States to review their legislation to ensure transparency of media ownership, so that the public has...

Archived Regulation News

Loudness on TV: Catalan Regulator takes steps
posted on 17 October, 2012   (public)
In line with the recent trend towards loudness normalization in several European countries, the Catalan Audiovisual Council (CAC) has recently been tackling the issue of sudden changes in volume on television during advertising breaks further to complaints from the public. A...
Creation of a new regulatory authority in Luxembourg: Draft Law
posted on 16 October, 2012   (public)
On 15 October 2012, Luxembourg's Minister for Communication and Media, Mr. François Biltgen, announced a - long awaited - reform of media law and the creation of the Independent Audiovisual Authority of Luxembourg (l’Autorité luxembourgeoise...
Irish BAI signals new rules for advertising of food and drink in children’s programmes
posted on 16 October, 2012   (public)
The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) announced on October 12 the outcomes of a public consultation launched in March 2012 on a Draft Children’s Commercial Communications Code and a Draft General Commercial Communications Code. The Draft Codes concern regulatory...
Towards a convergent NRA in France? ARCEP's point of view
posted on 16 October, 2012   (public)
In the context of a consultation launched by the Prime Minister during summer, ARCEP, the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Post, published its position on the merger between the CSA and ARCEP, the two French regulatory authorities in charge of...
Update on SEE Digi.TV activities
posted on 11 October, 2012   (public)
The Second SEE Digi.TV International Conference which is organized by the lead partner of the project, the Post and Electronic Communications Agency of the Republic of Slovenia (APEK), will be held in Ljubljana on 18-19 October 2012. During this event (upon invitation...
Ofcom’s supplementary advice on media plurality
posted on 05 October, 2012   (public)
On 5 October 2012, Ofcom published supplementary advice to the Secretary of State on media plurality. This follows the report on the feasibility of measuring media plurality across platforms, presented to the Secretary of State for Culture in June 2012. Ofcom recommended to...
Access services: Ofcom's statement on new requirements for non-domestic channels
posted on 01 October, 2012   (public)
On 1 October 2012, Ofcom, the communications regulator in the UK, published a statement on new requirements for TV channels licensed by Ofcom and made available in other Member States of the European Union to provide access services such as subtitling, signing and audio...
Short extracts: Draft Decision by French CSA
posted on 01 October, 2012   (public)
The Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (CSA), the French regulatory authority, notified the European Commission of its draft Decision setting up the conditions for the transmission of short extracts of sport events and other events of high interest to the...
European Commission report on the promotion of European works
posted on 26 September, 2012   (public)
The European Commission published its report on the promotion of European works in television and on-demand audiovisual media services on 26 September 2012. The report examines how the Members States complied with the requirements of Articles 13, 16 and 17 of the Audiovisual...
4th CERF meeting convenes in Bratislava
posted on 25 September, 2012   (public)
From 20 to 21 September 2012, the Central European Regulatory Forum (CERF) held its 4th meeting in Bratislava, hosted by the Council for Broadcasting and Retransmission of the Slovak Republic. More than 30 representatives from regulatory authorities in the Czech Republic,...
MEDIADEM publishes comparative findings on media policy
posted on 20 September, 2012   (public)
MEDIADEM, an EU funded research project on media policy-making processes in EU member states and candidate countries, recently published its comparative findings. The purpose of the research project is to identify which policy processes, tools and instruments can best support...
Report of the EU Media Futures Forum
posted on 20 September, 2012   (public)
On 20 September 2012, the EU Media Futures Forum, commissioned by Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda, released its final report on trends, opportunities and challenges in the media sector. This report complements the...
Community Media: Czech Regulator opens a public debate
posted on 19 September, 2012   (public)
The Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting, the Czech regulatory authority, recently opened a public debate on Community Media by commissioning a report mapping out the possibilities for introducing "Third Sector" (non-profit) media in the Czech Republic. ...
Ofcom awards first local TV licences
posted on 13 September, 2012   (public)
On 12 September 2012, Ofcom (UK) awarded the first licences to run local TV services on DTT in Brighton and Grimsby. This was done following new legislation which enabled Ofcom to issue local TV licences. Local TV has been previously licensed on a limited basis by the...
Loudness on TV: French CSA report
posted on 06 September, 2012   (public)
On 5 September 2012, the French regulator CSA published its first report to Parliament on loudness levels on television. This report derives from Article 177 of Law No. 2010-788 of 12 July 2010, which requires that channels ensure an equal loudness level during...
New President and new Board for the Catalan Authority
posted on 26 July, 2012   (public)
The Catalan Authority, Consell de l'Audiovisual de Catalunya (CAC), has a new President and a partly renewed Board. Roger Loppacher i Crehuet began his term of office as President on July 9, 2012. He replaces Mr Ramon Font, who resigned from his position to facilitate...
New President and new Board for the Italian AGCOM
posted on 26 July, 2012   (public)
The constitutive meeting of the new Board of the AGCOM, the Italian regulator in charge of broadcasting and telecommunications, took place on 26 July 2012 at the authority's headquarters in Naples. The new President is Angelo Marcello Cardani who replaces Corrado...
Ofcom's Communications Market Report 2012
posted on 26 July, 2012   (public)
On 18 July 2012, Ofcom published its 9th Communications Market Report on the UK’s TV, radio, broadband, telecoms and mobile industries. This year’s report shows that viewers watched television an average of four hours per day in 2011 – up from 3.7 hours in...
Looking beyond the AVMS Directive: the challenge of Connected TV, Limassol, 25-26 October
posted on 25 July, 2012   (public)
The European Commission and the Cyprus Radiotelevision Authority are organizing a conference entitled Looking beyond the AVMS Directive: the challenge of Connected TV in Limassol, Cyprus, on 25-26 October 2012.  The aim of the meeting is to stimulate thought and action...
Prominence of European works on VOD: Assessment by Belgian CSA
posted on 09 July, 2012   (public)
On 3 July 2012, the CSA of the French speaking Community of Belgium handed over to Parliament a global assessment report of its policy measures on the promotion of European works and works of the French Community of Belgium on VOD services. The CSA Recommendation of 24 June...
PSB funding changes in Finland
posted on 27 June, 2012   (public)
On 20 June 2012, the Finnish Parliament approved legislation on the new public service broadcasting tax. According to the new Acts, as of 1 January 2013, the activities of the Finnish public service broadcaster Yleisradio (YLE) will be funded from the state budget. The...
Access and disability: CSA study on DTT devices with voice features
posted on 24 June, 2012   (public)
The French CSA published on June 22 the results of the Mediatvcom study on the DTT devices with voice features. The study was commissioned by the CSA after the associations for the blind and visually impaired had stated that no DTT device designed for blind people existed in...
Commission asks ECJ to fine Poland for not fully implementing AVMS Directive
posted on 21 June, 2012   (public)
European Commission has decided to refer Poland to the European Court of Justice for failing to fully implement the Audiovisual Media Services Directive. Poland has partially implemented the Directive but not the provisions concerning on-demand services. The Commission...
Compensation for the use of short extracts - ECJ
posted on 19 June, 2012   (public)
The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice, Mr. Yves Bot, issued on June 12 a legal opinion in the case Sky Österreich GmbH v Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF). The case concerns compensation payable by Austrian public broadcaster ORF to the holder of...
Measuring Plurality across platforms: Ofcom report
posted on 19 June, 2012   (public)
In October 2011, the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport asked Ofcom to provide advice on the feasibility of measuring media plurality across platforms. On 19 June 2012, Ofcom published a report  giving an answer to the five questions raised by...
Media Pluralism: ECHR judgment in Centro Europa 7 and Di Stefano case
posted on 19 June, 2012   (public)
The European Court of Human Rights delivered the judgment in the case of Centro Europa 7 S.R.L. v. Italy and Di Stefano v. Italy on June 7. The case concerned an Italian TV company’s inability to broadcast for nearly ten years, despite having a broadcasting licence, due...
Belgian CSA workshop: "New Screens, new Regulation" - Brussels, 5-6 July
posted on 13 June, 2012   (public)
On 5 and 6 July 2012, the CSA of the French Community of Belgium and the MEDIADEM project jointly organise a workshop entitled "New screens, new regulation". This conference on the future of television, which will revolve around issues such as Connected TV, social...
REFRAM meets in Portorož at the eve of EPRA meeting
posted on 30 May, 2012   (public)
On the eve of the 35th EPRA meeting and with the support of the International Organization of la Francophonie, the seven broadcasting regulators that are also members of REFRAM, the network of French speaking media regulatory authorities, met on 29 May in Portorož (Slovenia)...
Pan-European Forum on Media Pluralism and New Media: Brussels, 27 June
posted on 22 May, 2012   (public)
The Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn (UK), University of Leuven (Belgium) and the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (Italy) are organising the Pan-European Forum on Media Pluralism and New Media. The event will take place on June 27 at the premises of the...
Consultation on revision of Swiss Radio and Television Act
posted on 16 May, 2012   (public)
The Federal Council of Switzerland has opened a consultation procedure concerning the revision of the Radio and Television Act. The partial revision of the Act focuses on the replacement of the current reception fee by a universal radio and television fee. Today, when smart...