EU Directive Could Damage New Media In The UK
The growing new media industry in the UK could be damaged by the EU’s Audio Visual Media Servies Directive, according to the House of Lords EU Committee.
The committee has written to Shaun Woodward MP, minister for the creative industries and tourism, to set out its concerns. The letter is timed to inform the European Council’s debate on the Directive, which is scheduled for Tuesday 14 November.
The committee has said that industry self regulation is the best option in most cases and has worked well in the UK and that this Directive should allow successful self-regulation to continue unhindered.
It also believes that it is increasingly clear that established broadcasters will have to compete with a growing new media market for advertising revenue. The Committee are clear that the regulator’s role should not be to protect companies with an established market position from this competition.
If the EU does want to regulate new media services beyond the existing eCommerce Directive, said the letter, it should seek to adopt a whole new approach and not simply try to transfer provisions designed for television.
It acknowledges, however, that there is a continued need for controls on harmful and illegal content in new as well as established media.
Lord Woolmer, chairman of the Lords EU sub-committee, who are investigating the AMS Directive, said: “Having received all our evidence for this inquiry, we have decided to write to Shaun Woodward ahead of next week’s council meeting to make our concerns clear.
“We have serious concerns about the EU’s proposed Directive and the potential damage it may do to new media industries in the UK. The market for new media such as TV on-demand is far more advanced in the UK than in much of continental Europe and we are determined that this growing sector is not damaged by AMS directive.”
He continued: “With modern broadcasting technology new media companies could easily move their operations to countries not covered by EU legislation if the regulatory regime is too onerous.
“While it is vital that the public are protected from obscene and illegal content in the new media as well as from traditional broadcasters we feel this could be achieved more effectively with a completely new approach to the new media, not simply transferring current legislation designed for TV to a very different industry.”