EU member states need to transpose the new Audiovisual Media Services (AVMS) Directive by 19 September 2020.

Cullen International has just published two new benchmarks that track the progress in the transposition of the directive across 14 European countries.

Denmark is the first country (among the countries covered) to have transposed the directive. Amendments to the Act on TV and radio operations are in force since 1 July 2020.

In France, where the parliament debate has been delayed due to Covid-19, the government announced that the adoption process will be split. The non-controversial aspects will be included in a draft law to be discussed in parliament in July 2020, while the controversial provisions will be left for a parliament debate in September. Further, two implementing decrees aimed at relaxing TV advertising rules will be adopted in July 2020 to address the loss of advertising revenues by broadcasters.

Other countries have also progressed: in Finland the draft law was presented to Parliament, in the Netherlands the draft law was adopted by the Parliament’s lower chamber (adoption by the upper chamber is pending), and the UK has notified the draft Audiovisual Media Services Regulations to the European Commission under the Regulatory Transparency Directive.

The report provides an overview of the most interesting proposals under discussion. For instance:

• In the UK, video-sharing platforms would have to pay a fee to Ofcom and provide to the NRA the information it requires to enable it to fulfil its duties. The Advertising Standards Authority could be designated as the co-regulator in charge of advertising.
• In Finland, VOD services would have to make accessible 30% of their catalogues’ programming hours (excluding music performances and live streaming) to people with disabilities, and TV channels would be bound to qualitative accessibility requirements (for subtitling) in addition to quantitative targets.
• In France, investment obligations would apply to both foreign TV channels and foreign on-demand services targeting France.

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