Press releases
Today’s vote of the European Parliament’s Culture Committee does not meet the expectations of the European press sector.
Publishers of newspapers and magazines in Europe are concerned that today’s vote in the European Parliament on the proposal for an updated AVMS Directive could seriously undermine media pluralism and press freedom in Europe.
First of all, the European Parliament’s compromises support a large deregulation of the audiovisual advertising market, which is probably neither what consumers want nor certainly what the objective of maintaining a vibrant and pluralistic media landscape requires.
Amongst other things, the Culture Committee voted in favour of a suggestion to make isolated ad spots as admissible as any other advertisements, including during TV prime time, whereas this provision (Article 19) was not part of the initial European Commission’s proposal. Yet, such a change would create an unprecedented situation on the advertising market, largely to the detriment of the press sector.
Similarly, ENPA and EMMA do regret that the Culture Committee did not vote for maintaining an hourly-based limitation of TV advertising (Article 23). Moving away from such a rule does not put press publishers in appropriate conditions to maintain their investments into journalistic content in the long run.
Finally, EMMA and ENPA regret that the concerns expressed in relation to quotas and the possibly broader inclusion of press websites under the scope of the Directive are not adequately addressed in the adopted compromise amendments.
For further information contact:
Max von Abendroth
Executive Director, EMMA
max.abendroth@magazinemedia.eu
+32 2 536 06 04
Sophie Scrive
Executive Director, ENPA
+32 2 551 01 97
The European Magazine Media Association, is the unique and complete representation of Europe’s magazine media, which is today enjoyed by millions of consumers on various platforms, encompassing both paper and digital formats.
