The European Commission on Thursday asked European Union (EU) member states to rapidly implement common rules on the liberalization of audiovisual media services across the EU.
One year after the entry into force of a new EU directive, only Romania has comprehensively implemented the new rules. Now the commission, the executive body of the EU and guardian of EU laws, urges rapid implementation by the other 26 member states.
"The new EU rules are an opportunity to create a single market for the digital age, and I urge member states to put them in place quickly and in a flexible manner so that TV producers, broadcasters and viewers benefit from them as soon as possible," said Viviane Reding, EU commissioner for information society and the media.
The member states are obliged to transpose the EU rules into national law by December 2009. However, progress is slow in many member states. Some governments have not yet held public consultations on how the EU rules will work in their country, said the commission. In some member states, drafts of the new rules are ready for parliamentary procedures only early next year.
"I am concerned that some member states appear to see the new rules as an excuse for adding red tape. We have created better regulation at EU level and I expect member states to do the same at national level," said Reding.
The new EU rules make it easier for producers and providers of TV programs to access financing from new forms of audiovisual advertising such as split screen advertising or product placement. Broadcasters can more easily interrupt programs thanks to the removal of the rule imposing a 20-minute period between advertising breaks. |
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