The European Parliament approved on Tuesday 9 May a report urging Member States to implement the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD). Carried by Petra Kammerevert (S&D, German), the text received 543 votes in favour, 40 against and 40 abstentions at the Strasbourg plenary session.
Partial implementation
While the directive was revised in 2018, the report denounces both the hesitation of Member States to transpose and enforce it and a slow response from the European Commission.
On the substance, the text insists in particular on the need to monitor the measures taken by the Member States to ensure the visibility of European works and to review the method of calculating the 30% quota of European works on video-on-demand platforms. In parallel, it calls for consideration to be given to the possible introduction of “common EU-wide minimum requirements for investment incentive schemes as a way to complement the financial obligations provisions in the AVMSD” on the financing of European productions.
AVMSD vs. EMFA
“We need sector-specific regulation which recognises the specific nature of the media sector as part of our cultural heritage, giving it a European framework without leading to uniformity, losing touch with the specific characteristics of the situation in different Member States”, concluded Ms Kammerevert the day before, when she presented her report. This remark echoes the criticism made, including by the rapporteur, of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) (see EUROPE 13151/26).
While assuring that the European Commission continues to monitor the AVMSD, the Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, recalled that the EFMA is filling some of its gaps. He gave the example of the “country of origin” principle (see EUROPE 13063/29): thanks to the new European Board for Media Services, Member States will be able to coordinate and react more quickly to content that poses a risk to public safety, he argued.
To see the report: https://aeur.eu/f/6sn (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)