On 17 November at the Culture Council, Commission Oreja will present a joint paper with Commission Van Miert, on the funding of public service broadcasting. Having considered proposals from a commissioned think tank, Oreja claims to have reached a solution which will achieve a consensus. However, opposition exists between Germany, whose Länder have a direct… Continue reading EU: Public Service broadcasting
The European Parliament has welcomed a Commission Green Paper on the implications of the convergence of the telecommunications, media and IT sectors in a resolution which calls for consumer rights to be safeguarded and an examination of the consequences of convergence on employment. During its October II meeting in Strasbourg, MEPs asked the Commission for… Continue reading EU: EP Calls for Media Ownership rules
A report on a Community action plan to promote the safe use of the internet has been adopted by the Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs in the European Parliament. The Committee’s report asks for rules to be established at an EU level to ensure that the internet is used safely. Following the Council’s… Continue reading EU: EP on safe use of internet
The European Commission has announced that the parties to the British Interactive Broadcasting joint venture (BiB) have made a number of concessions to meet the competition concerns put to them by the Commission’s services. In a notice published in the Official Journal, the Commission has set out the details of the agreement, and has given… Continue reading EU: UK Digital TV
The EC is expected to decide whether it will adopt guidelines for the evaluation of state aid to public television channels in the EU before the end of this year. However, in the face of strong opposition from MS, the Commission’s DGXV is to consult private sector broadcasters on current proposals. Following a number of… Continue reading EU: EC Guidelines For Public TV Financing
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is to launch a campaign to protect terrestrial television coverage of the World Cup football finals. FIFA, the world football governing body, has declared that the 2002 finals in Japan and South Korea should appear on terrestrial television, but the EBU fears that in many countries some of the games… Continue reading EU: Plans for World Cup 2002
Representatives of the European audio-visual industry led by European Commissioner Marcelino Oreja have published a report proposing a number of initiatives for the revitalisation of EU audio-visual policy. Convened last year by Mr Oreja, the group is charged with developing recommendations for the orientation of audio-visual policy in the digital age, with a view to… Continue reading EU: Call to revitalise AV policy
At a cabinet meeting last week, the decision was taken to reduce advertising time on the French state-run TV channels. From 2000, advertising slots will be cut by over 50%, from twelve to five minutes per hour on France 2 and France 3. The move has been supported by Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, who claims… Continue reading FR: Reduction of TV advertising
A settlement between US state attorneys general and the major tobacco marketers over sponsorship agreements is expected shortly. It is expected that each company will be limited to one sponsorship deal only.
The European Parliament has adopted a controversial report on consumer protection which calls for additional responsibility from manufacturers of defective products. Adopting the Roth-Behrendt report on farmers’ liability, MEPs voted in favour of amendments which call into question a number of EU principles over producer liability. Speaking on behalf of the Commission, Mario Monti said… Continue reading EU: EP Report on Consumer Protection
