19 September 2020 was the deadline for the transposition of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive into the national legislation of each EU Member State.

Since this deadline, the UK and the Netherlands have transposed the directive and the transposition process has moved forward in a number of other countries.

The Dutch draft law that implements the directive provisions was adopted by parliament on 29 of September 2020. The law has not yet entered into force.

The UK also adopted The Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2020 on 30 September 2020. The UK is bound to implement the directive since the transposition deadline falls before the end of the Brexit transition period (end of 2020). The arrangements after this date will depend on the results of the negotiation on the future relationship between the UK and the EU.

The French parliament adopted the law that authorises the government to implement the directive by ordinances on 7 October 2020. The government is now expected to complete the process by the end of 2020.

The Italian parliament has also made progress in the examination of the draft European Mandate Law 2019. This law will give the government the power to implement the directive by legislative decree according to the principles and criteria contained in the law.

Finland and Sweden are expected to adopt their laws by the end of October 2020.

The transposition process was completed in Denmark during the summer. In Germany, Prime ministers of the Lander agreed on the new Interstate Media Treaty already at the end of 2019, but formal adoption is still pending.

In all other countries (among the 14 covered) draft laws are still in preparation and have not yet been introduced in parliament. The current status in these countries is as follows: 

• In Croatia, the government is scheduled to adopt the draft law at the end of October. The discussion in parliament is expected to take place in November-December 2020.
• In Belgium, both the Flemish and Wallonia Parliaments are expected to receive the respective draft legislation in November 2020 following final government approval.
• Poland started a consultation on a preliminary draft law on 11 September 2020. According to the Polish Constitution, the council of ministers may classify a bill as urgent thus shortening deadlines for parliamentary procedures and signature of the adopted act.
• In Norway a public consultation on the draft law is expected in early 2021.
• In Spain, no information was disclosed regarding the preparation of the draft law. The regulator (CNMC) opened a public consultation on the application of the audiovisual media legislation to audiovisual media services provided on video-sharing platforms (until 13 Nov. 2020).
• In Ireland, the government approved the general scheme of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill back in January 2020, which kicked-off the legal drafting of the bill by the Office of the Attorney General. No information has been disclosed since.

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