The Committee of Representatives to the EU (Coreper) has not managed to reach an agreement on the future rules for audiovisual media services (see EUROPE 11558). Despite a morning discussion on 10 May, they were unable to settle questions relating to the scope of application or appropriate jurisdiction.
The Maltese Presidency of the Council of the EU was backed by the Commission and aims to reach a political agreement of principle (a general approach) during the Culture Council on 22 May, in an effort to begin inter-institutional negotiations with the European Parliament. The two German co-rapporteurs in Parliament, Petra Kammerevert (S&D) and Sabine Verheyen (EPP), received a negotiating mandate from their committee on 26 April last (see EUROPE 11774).
The EU 28 is currently stalling on the question involving the scope of the application, particularly the issue of whether to include social media and video sharing platforms. According to the information we have received, countries in the north, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom are opposed to it.
The other bone of contention involves the appropriate jurisdiction and the derogation to the country of origin principle, which enables a member state to take measures when it considers that a televisual broadcasting body is covered by the scope of another state that is entirely or mainly targeting its territory (article 4).
It should be pointed out that the question of financial promotion and participation of subscription services (such as Netflix) in European content does not appear to be a major stumbling block, even though not all the member state support the 20% quota of catalogue content as proposed by the Commission and retained by the Maltese Presidency.
At this stage, the intentions of the Maltese Presidency are unclear. Several sources have confirmed to us that the Presidency has promised to continue working on this dossier. It is uncertain, however, that it will succeed in developing the appropriate lines on these rules, given its lack of room for manoeuvre. The subject may be on the agenda of the next Coreper meeting on 17 May or if necessary, in direct discussions with ministers on 22 May. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)