Brussels, 22/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - Viviane Reding, Culture and Audiovisual Policy Commissioner, spoke on Friday on the amendments to be made to the "Television without Frontiers" Directive in the light of technological change. She was speaking on the occasion of the conference of the Luxembourg RTL Group Management Conference held in Venice. In her view, television was a national affair until the arrival of satellites and cross-border diffusion imposing the adoption of the Television without Frontiers Directive in 1989. The Directive aims to harmonise national rules to a minimum degree.
The Commissioner currently envisages proposing an amendment to the directive by end 2002 in order to adjust it to the digital age. She considers that the approach for a landscape dominated by a limited number of televisions is not appropriate, in several fields such as advertising, the protection of minors and European content. As far as advertising is concerned, she trusts that the regulation will not hamper the development of new services. She cites a series of programmes such as "Big Brother", or "Who wants to be a millionaire?", diffused by the RTL, which are "perfect examples" of products integrating the Internet and the television. She restates her opposition to the ban on advertising for children, considering it is sufficient to ensure that a child makes a distinction between the context of programmes and the advertising itself and that there are rules preventing children's credulity to be exploited. Concerning the protection of minors against dangerous or unlawful content, Ms Reding urged for a self-regulatory approach, in order to safeguard the balance between freedom of speech and the legitimate aims of public interest.
Viviane Reding, moreover, raises the question of how appropriate it is to maintain the quota system in order to defend cultural diversity and pluralism (European content) in the digital world. In her view, the time has come to rethink the concept of broadcasting and to reflect in terms of users who have access to a wide range of electronic content that can take various forms at a time - and often a place - of their choice. In this optic, she defends the implementation of a flexible regulatory framework to encourage innovation and transition.
The Commission will be publishing, early 2002, the results of three studies on: 1) the impact of measures to promote the distribution and the production of European TV programmes; 2) the technological developments in the audiovisual sector; 3) the development of advertising techniques. Consultation will then be held and, end 2002, Ms Reding is expected to propose a communication on this subject and amendments to the Television without Frontiers Directive.